Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – Path of Ronin, Raid part 2, and a new weapon!

Tags

Call of Duty MW 2, Challenges, CODM, DMZ, iFerg, Missions, Path of Ronin, Raid part 2, Tempest Torrent, Tips and Tricks

Call of Duty has recently provided a season 2 update. The Path of Ronin has been upgraded to 10 weapon challenges. Each weapons class has its own specific challenges. Assault rifles, Battle Rifles, Submachine guns, Shotguns, Sniper rifles, melee weapons, Marksmanship rifles, pistols, and launchers each have their own specific challenges. I’ve completed pistols, submachine guns, and will start working on launchers today. Here’s a link to get the specifics: https://www.callofduty.com/blog/2023/03/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-II-warzone-2-0-season-02-reloaded-himmelmatt-raid-overview#Ronin

I haven’t played the Raid part 2 yet, but will in the upcoming weeks. In order to play the Raid mission you need to get two other friends to join you. I’ll play with my brother and one of his stepsons or play with the step sons exclusively. I watched StoneMountain64 play through it with two other streamers (Fuglet and Acculite). It seems pretty short, but still worth playing in my opinion.

The new weapon they’ve just opened up is a new marksmanship rifle. Here’s a link to learn the various ways to unlock it: https://twinfinite.net/2023/03/warzone-2-modern-warfare-2-how-to-unlock-the-tempus-torrent-marksman-rifle/

If you’re like me, you relish every challenge because it is what drives me to play these games. I’m competitive and like to win, but that’s not the gist of what makes me want to play these games. Speaking of challenges, there are all kinds of missions to complete in the DMZ. One trick you can do when you’re in the DMZ is to play with a partner. When you get ready to leave, have them drop their weapon and grab it. Do this a number of times and you’ll have a full inventory of contraband weapons with 5 attachments.

Here’s another piece of advice. Always equip your weapons with suppressors. Particularly if you like going solo, like I do. Suppressor kills tend not to fire up the AI, particularly if you pick them off at a distance with headshots. Your armored AI will require two headshots to kill them, but nonetheless, the alarms do not go off, with helicopters dropping off more AI and all the rest.

When I run solo missions, I tend to avoid other players. Unless you’re surprised, many players give themselves away by either using a vehicle or starting a firefight with the AI. When I hear this, I avoid the area, and move to a spot that is less active. If you do run into another player group, send them an invite to your party or request to join them. You’ll likely get invited and then you have two or three other players to work with. I do go into the DMZ with “randos” from time-to-time, but frankly, many of them do not have any type of plan for what they want to do. I always go in with a mission in mind. I tend to only do one at a time and get the hell out.

I wanted to mention CODM for a moment. The challenges this season are Black Gold Brawl, Down Range, Loaner Loadout, Top Up Bonus Event, Out Classed, Get Madd, Team Player, and Too Attached. These challenges are terrific! If you haven’t tried them, give it a shot. They give all kinds of goodies, like new weapon skins, new character skins, new perks, and even new weapons. The Maddox is one of the new weapons introduced. It is an assault rifle and it is awesome.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. Oh! Before I leave, here is another streamer you may want to add to your watch schedule. iFerg is a streamer that highlights CODM. He has over 2 million followers and is a real treat to watch. He has all kinds of interesting insights and he offers up some great information about everything COD Mobile (CODM). Here’s the link to his channel if you’re interested: https://www.youtube.com/@iFerg

Well, that’s it for today, folks. Have a great Saturday!

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM and COD MW2

Tags

BP Vault, Challenges, CODM, CODMW2, Diamond, Gaming, JGOD, Polyatomic, Roadmap, Season 2, Vault Coins

I just finished a few challenges in CODM. I am also working on diamond camo for the Lada SMG, ZRG Sniper Rife, EC2 Assault Rifle, and the Dingo LMG. I’m focusing on the Dingo for now. I’m also working on Legendary status in both Battle Royale and Multiplayer. So far so good.

If you haven’t heard of vault coins, check them out. You can get access to character skins, weapons, and all kinds of goodies from previous seasons you may have missed out on. Below is a screenshot of my battle pass. You’ll notice the BP Vault and the current vault coins I have. They’re next to my CP. I currently have 140.

If you click on BP Vault, you’ll be brought to this screen (see below).

You’ll notice that I have completed all of the previously available vaults given. Each battle pass will bring in new ones. It’s great fun! You’ll earn vault coins while you progress beyond level 50 and have completed the current battle pass. I’ve gotten some terrific character skins that I missed out on in previous seasons. It’s awesome!

Call of Duty MW 2 is also really exciting. This Wednesday, February 15, 2023, is the next battle pass. Here’s the new roadmap video provided by one of my favorite streamers, JGOD:

I’m currently working on the Polyatomic camo for Battle Rifles. I’ve completed LMGs and Assault Rifles and the Riot Shield. I’m trying to get as much of this done before the Season 2 Battle pass coming out on the 15th, so I’ll be grinding my butt off for the next few days. This challenge involves getting headshots. I’d recommend using thermographic sites for most of these challenges. I am sticking with plain old Team Deathmatch for these challenges and it is pretty effective. I usually get polyatomic in a few games.

One of the best builds for my classes is carrying the battle rifle and a pistol so I can work two weapons at once. I run double time, extra tactical, resupply, and overclock. This way, I can always get positioned with rear protection using proximity mines or claymores. I also carry two smokes that are constantly refilled by resupply. Using smoke, you have some time to zero in on a headshot, while the enemy is blinded. Note: Some players will be using thermographic sites as well. When this is the case, you can forget smoke. They’ll see you too. So you’ll have to deal with that. What I’ve found, however, is that most players do not. So they are blinded while you site in their head.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed the screen shots, the explanation of the vault coins, and the great video by JGOD showing all the great stuff coming on February 15th. Also, you’ll get free access that weekend, along with a 2X XP for new weapons and character experience to speed up completing the battle pass and getting all those great new weapons, characters, and other goodies.

Have a great Saturday, folks. As a reminder. If any of you want to play, you can find me as ieatbullets63 on both CODM and COD MW 2. Hit me up and we can play!!

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM, APEX and PUBG

Tags

APEX, Challenges, CODM, Halloween themed areas, Halloween themes, Haunted Voyage, PUBG, ranked play, Skins

How are you doing? I hope your weekend is going well. Halloween is right around the corner and all of these games have come up with some cool Halloween themes to celebrate. If you’re in Call of Duty Mobile, check out Zombies as a separate game and the multiplayer versions. Also, make sure to have some fun on Haunted Hacienda. If you’re playing APEX, you’ll want to check out some of the cool skins for legends like Ash and Wraith. On PUBG, you’ve now got special Halloween areas all over the various battle royale maps.

If you haven’t seen it yet, MW2 just released for Call of Duty on Console. If you’re like I am, you can’t wait to get your hands on this one and start playing the campaign. Stone Mountain and a few of the streamers I watch played through it, and it looks outstanding. I have not played, yet, but will keep you updated. I’m looking to get back onto console after a long hiatus, concentrating exclusively on mobile gaming.

As a side note, many of you who follow this part of my blog, may not be aware of my father’s condition. He has dementia and cannot be left alone when he’s up. I’ve been tasked with staying with dad and this caused me to move to the mobile arena of games because that was all that was available to me. I’m still thinking of a way to get back on my console, but it may take some adjustments to my sleep schedule to make that happen. I’ll keep you posted.

Anyway, if you are on console and playing the new MW2, congrats and have a great time. I’m still working on ranks in APEX and PUBG, and working on diamond camouflage for my assault rifles. I’m also working on Gold for the ZRG 20mm sniper, the new Krig 6 assault rifle, and attempting to complete the battle pass for Zombies.

I have not done this yet but will be creating a server on Discord where folks can join me on the various games I play. I’ve discovered that APEX particularly is difficult to rank up if you are playing entirely with random players, particularly those who are from foreign countries who do not speak English. The only type of game play available is trios. Unlike PUBG and CODM, I can play battle royal solo, which is my preferred method of play when I’m ranking. I’ll notify you here when I’m up and running. I’m currently taking a Discord course that I should finish in the next few weeks.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Gaming Saturday – CODM, Apex Legends, and PUBG

Tags

Aiming, Apex Legends, Battle Royal, Challenges, CODM, PUBG, TTK, Zombies

CODM came out with a few challenges this week and brought back Zombies for a bit. These challenges drop the new melee weapon the Butterfly Knife. There’s another challenge also that will last for some time. It’s the seasonal challenge and you have to grind a lot to get the points to move through various clues, collecting them on the way.

I tried out Apex Legends and PUBG this week. My initial thoughts. Apex is fun. It has some great graphics, the legendary characters are a blast (my favorite is Loba). They have both Battle Royal ranked and unranked and they have team deathmatch. I am playing ranked because I enjoy the competition and the ability to increase my rank, which is ordered by color. You start at Iron and work your way up.

PUBG is a little clunky and I still have a lot to learn, but it’s fun. Between the three the time-to-kill (TTK) is high in PUBG, Medium level in CODM, and low in Apex Legends. Your aiming has to improve the slower the TTK. I started out unranked in both APEX and PUBG, but moved to ranked once I got the swing of things.

If you’re looking to mix it up a bit, but still enjoy Battle Royal, try these out. You may like them or not. For me, I’ll always be a CODM fan, but APEX and PUBG are also really fun to play and will improve your game play in CODM, just because you have to learn different skills in both of these games that will contribute to your BR and Multiplayer play in CODM.

Try them out. They’re both free and they’re both mobile.

Happy Gaming!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Hobbies, Games, and Movies – Call of Duty Mobile, The Sopranos, and Power Play

Tags

Call of Duty, Challenges, CODM, Gaming, The Destroyer, The Sopranos, Zombies

Season 3 of Call of Duty is a real kick! There have been some great challenges, my quest for diamond camouflage continues, and there will be more to come. Ahh, gaming is my passion, and this game never disappoints. They’ve continued Zombies indefinitely, which is awesome!

My reading of The Destroyer Series continues. I’m on book 36. It’s called Power Play and it is another great read. I won’t ruin it for anyone, but it’s a terrific series to read. I’m going to focus my reading on this fiction series for the near future.

My sister and I just started Season 4 of the Sopranos. Boy is this show getting good. It is so creative how the tension in series like this, Breaking Bad, and others are woven together. I am really enjoying it. We haven’t decided what we’re going to watch next, but I think it’s going to be Game of Thrones. Believe it or not, my sister has not seen this show, except for a few episodes. Crazy, right?

Well, that’s it for this week. If you know of any great shows, video games, or books to read, drop me a note. I’m always open to new ideas.

Have a great Thursday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Hobbies, Games, and Movies – Call of Duty Mobile

Tags

Call of Duty Mobile, Challenges, Fun, Games, Hobbies, Movies, The Heist, Thursday, WWII series

My sister and I are still watching the WWII series I discussed last week. It is approaching its end, as we are now after the D-Day invasion, and the battle of Minsk on the Eastern Front. The Americans in the Pacific are launching attacks into the Mariana islands. It is a great series.

Call of Duty started its new season called The Heist. There will be new characters, new weapons, and new challenges. I was so excited to start playing yesterday! Currently I am grinding through shotguns to get them all gold. After these, I have the marksman rifles and sniper weapons to work on. I began getting more efficient and worked on gold camouflage for all of my melee weapons as well. I am currently working on the baseball bat melee weapon.

I haven’t watched any movies since our last chat, but there are a few that I am interested in. I’ll keep you posted on what my sister and I watch.

Well, that’s it for the week. I hope all of you have a great rest of the week.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge

Tags

Challenges, family, Lockdown, Reading, Relaxation, Spread Your Wings, Sunday, Writing

Challenge: This week’s challenge involves some exploration. I’m going to offer another challenge below in case some of your lockdown conditions are just too hard to pull this off. The challenge is to take a walk in the woods, a beach, or a park. The challenge doesn’t require a certain distance, just that you go to one of these locations and take a stroll.

Challenge (alternate): Some of you live in areas where the lockdown is tough to overcome. One of my friends in Melbourne, Australia appears to be in an area that is suffering from a resurgence of the virus and is back under lockdown condition. This challenge is for you. This week, read about, look at pictures, or attend a virtual tour of one of your country’s or state’s national parks.

If you participate, tell me how you feel when you return from your little excursion.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Challenges Week of Dec 15, 2019

Tags

Challenges, Change It Up, Do Something Different, Gifts, Music, Out of the Ordinary, Spread Your Wings

Here we are again!

This week’s challenges are more holiday related.

Challenge #1: Get a gift for someone you normally don’t buy one for (postman, dry cleaner, or a waiter/waitress that always serves you well.

Challenge #2: Listen to a new artist this week you’ve never listened to before. If you want to spread your wings further, listen to a genre of music you never listen to.

As always, leave a comment below if you complete one or both.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Riding the Wave

Tags

Challenges, Difficulty, Making Judgment Calls, Multiple Priorities, Priorities, Riding the Wave, Rough Times

Image by Doug Wilmerton from Pixabay

What is wisdom? Wisdom is what we gain when we learn the hard way. When we tackle something new, we discover problems, challenges, and resilience. This applies to everything. The greatest learning happens when we are struggling.

Sometimes we can avoid the heartache of learning about something we don’t know anything about by reading about a person who is going through the same thing. Other times we stumble across a good piece of advice when we ask others to help us with a problem.

None of us goes looking for trouble. It just sneaks up on us, when we think we are on track or think we have something figured out. We learn that what we thought we knew, we didn’t. Interestingly, we discover that the things we depend on are typically the things that cause the most pain when they break. Think about the last time your car broke down. Totally unexpected right?

Last year I had a huge problem with tires. I went to visit my sister to attend a comedy show in her neck of the woods. While we were on our way, we hit a huge pothole and blew out a tire. A month or so later, coming home from my sister’s I ran over a shock absorber that was left behind by a semitrailer. It blew out two tires simultaneously. Three tires in a matter of months. Not only was it expensive to repair, but an absolute pain in the butt because the second time delayed me for 4 hours. Needless to say, I try to avoid driving through Detroit (because of the horrific state of the highways that run through there).

One of the wisest things I’ve discovered is the beauty of taking little steps each day toward a goal I want to achieve. You’d be amazed how many books you can read in a year by reading one chapter a day. You’d be amazed by how much you can write if you write a little each day. This can be applied to anything you do. I tend to like touching a whole slew of items each day. It keeps things fresh and it allows me to diversify my attention to many things, instead of focusing on just one thing. I do not multitask; I monotask. I focus on one thing at a time, but work across numerous areas each day. I write, meditate, exercise, read, take classes, run errands, and so on. Each task I accomplish contributes to a life-goal or a short-range or medium-range goal. That’s me. You may not like hopping and skipping around. You may not have the time.

When you are setting up your day, evaluate your productivity. Are you moving forward with your goals or spinning your wheels? Maybe you’ve taken on too much or you are trying to focus on something that just isn’t right for you right now. You also have to take into consideration that there will be days you can’t do anything because of outside circumstances. My nephew was in town this last week. He only visits once a year, so I wanted to take advantage of him being here by hanging out and doing things with him. This weekend I’m scheduled for a religious retreat. The retreat starts Friday and does not end until Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, this means that my priorities will take a back seat to this event. This is one thing to consider as well. You have to prioritize what is most important and put some of your daily to-dos on hold to take advantage of rare events that have a greater impact on your well-being.

Today’s article was spurred by the article I have referenced below. Give it a look. It’s a short one and will only take a few minutes to read, but it’s worth it. It caused me to think about wisdom in a new light. We really do gain when times are hard or our schedules are thrown into a tizzy. We have to improvise and adapt. This comes when we have developed the wisdom to realize that some days you just have to “ride the wave”.

Until next time…

Dave

Reference

Cohut, M. (2018). The road to wisdom runs through hardship study finds. Retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320996.php

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Creativity

Tags

Bountifulness, Challenges, creativity, Gratitude, journaling, Solutions, spirituality, trouble

“Creativity, bountifulness, and gratitude go hand in hand.” – Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

As a writer, creativity is an important aspect. We need creativity to create the worlds, conversations, characters, and dialogue that intrigue and entertain our readers. We also need creativity to live our lives. I have found that I am most creative during times of duress. You know those points in your lives where you feel like everything is crashing down around you and you sit there wondering, “What else can go wrong?”

During these times of trouble, our creativity elevates to a new level. Harold Klemp offers three keys to dealing with the troubles that will affect us from time-to-time. When times are tough, it is hard to be grateful. We concentrate on what is being taken away instead of focusing on what we have. This in turn creates a sense of lack or shortage, which in turn, stifles our creativity because of our narrow focus on the things we do not want in our lives.

When I started my gratitude journaling a while back, I did it by going through the motions. The journal I was using at the time was the 5-minute Journal and it requires you to write down three things you are grateful for in the morning when you awake and three things you are grateful for in the evening before you go to bed. I did this each day like without a second thought.

Then, something happened. I began to really feel grateful for the things I was writing down. I began to see how great I really had it. I began focusing on being grateful for the things I had. This focus awoke me to something I have read about over and over again but never really caught onto. It is a quote from some author I cannot remember. The quote goes like this, “Most of us have what we need, but are upset because we do not have what we want.” This is the key to being grateful and cultivating a gratitude that will smooth things out in your life.

Now I write in my gratitude journal until I can cultivate that feeling of gratefulness daily. I write and write until I “feel” grateful. When I have achieved this feeling, I realize how great my life is, how much I have, and how little I need to be truly happy. This is the bountifulness, Harold Klemp discusses. When you have all you need, when you believe you are wealthy beyond words, and you believe that you are satisfied with your life, creativity is boundless, because you have no limits. You attain a child-like quality, where you rekindle what it was like to dream, to make-believe, to live in a world where anything is possible. The days you believed you could be a fireman, an astronaut, a princess, or actress.

Creativity and the ability to visualize some goal or achievement is a great asset, while negotiating this life. When trouble comes, a creative mind will find a solution. There is always a solution to our problems. “God only gives us problems we have the ability to solve” – Unknown.

When you are hit with a problem or challenge, don’t panic. Sit down with a piece of paper and write down every potential solution you can come up with. Brainstorm. I like to use mind mapping software when I begin on a new writing project, others may just want to write out a huge list of potential solutions and work from this. Whichever way you choose to go, evaluate each idea you come up with and choose the solution you feel will work the best. Keep the list, in case the idea you choose doesn’t work. Then you can return to the list for your next-best idea. Visualize the problem being solved. Over time, you will begin to see the answers to your problems come from everywhere. Your friends may offer solutions, your wife, husband, or significant other may offer a solution. You may read something online or in the newspaper that addresses your problem. You may even overhear someone talking in your local coffee shop about the same or like problem you are dealing with and offer some ideas via their conversation. The solution to your problem can come from anywhere if you are open to it.

I hope each of you has a terrific weekend! My brother is visiting and we have a bunch of stuff planned to take advantage of his week’s stay with us. It’ll be a great time.

Until next time…

Dave