Forums » General Gaming

What Is Your Most "Clutch" Moment?

    • 275 posts
    July 31, 2017 10:44 PM EDT

    By "clutch" I mean "you shouldn't have survived but you managed to succeed against impossible odds". It's always fun thinking about how we get out of bad situations in games and there's always that one that's worth remembering.

    Mine happened while playing Dragon's Dogma and I was in Bitterblack Isle with a crap build. In one of the sewer areas I encountered Death (a Grim Reaper type enemy who can one shot with telegraphed attacks) and I, in a moment of bravado since I killed 3 gorecyclops (tough monsters that could stomp Kaarstag into dust) earlier, decided to stop running and show him who's boss... 30 seconds later I was running to the next area with a single pawn (an AI helper in the game, similar to followers in Skyrim but smarter). I walked into a room and found a riftstone (an object where I can retrieve killed pawns) but it was broken and I didn't have enough currency to repair it. I walk forward and see my first Living Armor (another boss enemy). At this point I was freaking out since I didn't have a full party of 4 and I gave all of my potions to my healer pawn (who died to Death's scythe) and I didn't know the enemy's attack patterns, but I pressed on knowing that he'd have everything I needed to repair the riftstone. A few seconds into the fight my pawn was absolutely destroyed while I was pelting it with arrows and was forced into melee, I was beat up a few times and my hands were shaking so bad I'm surprised I didn't have a seizure but managed to kill it after 20 minutes without dying with 30 health left, only 1% of my total health bar when this guy was hitting 700+. However, everything was worth it when I managed to repair the riftstone right after and proceed to curbstomp the final boss.

    Now that that's out of the way what was your moment that you had, unless you play only easy games and even then only on easy mode you must have at least one moment that made every muscle in your body tense and put your brain on overdrive.

    • 284 posts
    August 1, 2017 7:18 AM EDT

    I remember playing TW: Rome 2. I was playing as the Romans and got ambushed by a large barbarian army north of the alps. I was outnumbered 2 to 1 and I desperatly organized the best defense I could by moving my forces to a nearby hill. After a bloody battle, the barbarians were defeated and the only ones left standing were a small group of archers and the captain. 25 turns later, that same captain marched through the gates of the barbarian capital.

    • 275 posts
    August 1, 2017 1:41 PM EDT

    DeltaFox said:

    I remember playing TW: Rome 2. I was playing as the Romans and got ambushed by a large barbarian army north of the alps. I was outnumbered 2 to 1 and I desperatly organized the best defense I could by moving my forces to a nearby hill. After a bloody battle, the barbarians were defeated and the only ones left standing were a small group of archers and the captain. 25 turns later, that same captain marched through the gates of the barbarian capital.

    I've never played Total War but that sounds pretty damn brutal. I wonder what would've been going through that captain's head if he wasn't AI.


    This post was edited by Ebonslayer at August 1, 2017 3:59 PM EDT
    • 585 posts
    August 1, 2017 3:27 PM EDT

    DeltaFox said:

    I remember playing TW: Rome 2. I was playing as the Romans and got ambushed by a large barbarian army north of the alps. I was outnumbered 2 to 1 and I desperatly organized the best defense I could by moving my forces to a nearby hill. After a bloody battle, the barbarians were defeated and the only ones left standing were a small group of archers and the captain. 25 turns later, that same captain marched through the gates of the barbarian capital.

    Total War moments are the shit! Facing off against the endless hordes of the enemy with a massively inferior force, but somehow prevailing before smashing through their towns and cities looting and pillaging, going full Viking on their shit. Mmmmmm...

    • 66 posts
    August 7, 2017 4:36 AM EDT

    I had a good one this weekend in Skyrim (w/ mods). I was playing my werebear character (level 6 right now) and a few rules I impose on that character are that whenever I transform I have to drop everything droppable in my inventory, including gold, then go on an indiscriminate rampage following the scent of life or whatever nearby landmark a bear might appreciate. Once the beast has its fill I look for a cave or shelter to sleep in, when I wake in human form nude I have to backtrack the trail of carnage and scavenge until I can find my items without using a map, or just restart from scratch.

    So this weekend, the moon forced a transformation while I was looting a ruin in the Reach, the beast rage sets in and I wake up on the Orphan's tear wreck north of Solitude with a frostbitten pecker, very thirsty, and at 70% life the next morning. Half-eaten bandits are strewn about the site and I spot four hired thugs in full iron/steel armor already on my trail crest the horizon. I quickly managed to scavenge a set of fur armor, a steel dagger, and a crossbow with a handful of steel bolts. No potions or fresh water. Alright, let’s go.

    I used the ship wreck for cover and took one down to about 30% life and cripple his leg before I get flanked and have to leap from the boat. One dumb Nord thug gets stuck on a rock and I take a few potshots at him, but his orc friend closes in on me before I can finish him. I barely dodge roll away with orc close on my heels. The frost bite and thirst are wreaking havoc on my stamina; I hear the orc swing at my back. He misses, but I doubt the next will. Along the coast ahead I see a group of horkers; with the last of my stamina I leap into the middle of them, slash one with my dagger, and roll out of there. Barking erupts behind me and I turn around to see the three remaining thugs stumble into the enraged horkers. I see the wounded one fall to their tusks, but the orc barely slows his pursuit as he shoves his way past their blubbery hides, leaving the last thug to face the horkers alone.

    Okay, one-on-one and I've had a moment to take a breather. A bolt tings harmlessly off his steel, then he swings his mace. A perfectly timed block with my dagger deflects the full blow, hah! I draw some blood with a few quick slashes, but my next block isn't so lucky and it isn't pretty. The damn thug is sporting an orichalum mace, and a strong arm! Time to run again.

    I see a cave ahead and aim for it, then a sabercat rises from behind a brazier as I draw close. Shit luck, or is it? I dive to my left into the freezing waters, the cold is still a slower death than fangs, and the cat flies past where I just was and leaps into the orc. I swim back to land and start warming myself by the fire while I take aim. There's no clear shot and I end up shooting them both once. The damn orc manages to beats down the saber cat, but barely. My next shot sends him to his knees and he has the gall to ask for mercy. I show him none and I finish him off with the dagger. He has some nice gear, but I'm too tired to wear any heavy armor, so I take his mace, shield, and the bolts lodged in his chest only to see the thug left behind survived the horkers and gimp leg was still in the game.

    I'm still soaked and freezing from the ocean dip and it'll only take one hit to finish me off. I retreat into the cave, sneak past some Falmer bone chimes, and hide in the shadows of ledge with a shaman chattering away at its pet frost spider above. I aim the crossbow at the entrance and wait. The second they hit those chimes, that Falmer is going to blast them with magiks and there's pond I can dive for cover that also wraps back towards the entrance, but they never come. Guess the surviving thugs saw their dead leader, the dark cave marked with Falmer totems, and chose the better part of valor. Once I heard the shaman shuffle away from the ledge, I made my exit to the open sky, half expecting an ambush at the cave entrance, but horker slayer and gimpy were nowhere to be found. I'd survived.

    • 275 posts
    August 7, 2017 5:00 AM EDT

    Exuro said:

    I had a good one this weekend in Skyrim (w/ mods). I was playing my werebear character (level 6 right now) and a few rules I impose on that character are that whenever I transform I have to drop everything droppable in my inventory, including gold, then go on an indiscriminate rampage following the scent of life or whatever nearby landmark a bear might appreciate. Once the beast has its fill I look for a cave or shelter to sleep in, when I wake in human form nude I have to backtrack the trail of carnage and scavenge until I can find my items without using a map, or just restart from scratch.

    So this weekend, the moon forced a transformation while I was looting a ruin in the Reach, the beast rage sets in and I wake up on the Orphan's tear wreck north of Solitude with a frostbitten pecker, very thirsty, and at 70% life the next morning. Half-eaten bandits are strewn about the site and I spot four hired thugs in full iron/steel armor already on my trail crest the horizon. I quickly managed to scavenge a set of fur armor, a steel dagger, and a crossbow with a handful of steel bolts. No potions or fresh water. Alright, let’s go.

    I used the ship wreck for cover and took one down to about 30% life and cripple his leg before I get flanked and have to leap from the boat. One dumb Nord thug gets stuck on a rock and I take a few potshots at him, but his orc friend closes in on me before I can finish him. I barely dodge roll away with orc close on my heels. The frost bite and thirst are wreaking havoc on my stamina; I hear the orc swing at my back. He misses, but I doubt the next will. Along the coast ahead I see a group of horkers; with the last of my stamina I leap into the middle of them, slash one with my dagger, and roll out of there. Barking erupts behind me and I turn around to see the three remaining thugs stumble into the enraged horkers. I see the wounded one fall to their tusks, but the orc barely slows his pursuit as he shoves his way past their blubbery hides, leaving the last thug to face the horkers alone.

    Okay, one-on-one and I've had a moment to take a breather. A bolt tings harmlessly off his steel, then he swings his mace. A perfectly timed block with my dagger deflects the full blow, hah! I draw some blood with a few quick slashes, but my next block isn't so lucky and it isn't pretty. The damn thug is sporting an orichalum mace, and a strong arm! Time to run again.

    I see a cave ahead and aim for it, then a sabercat rises from behind a brazier as I draw close. Shit luck, or is it? I dive to my left into the freezing waters, the cold is still a slower death than fangs, and the cat flies past where I just was and leaps into the orc. I swim back to land and start warming myself by the fire while I take aim. There's no clear shot and I end up shooting them both once. The damn orc manages to beats down the saber cat, but barely. My next shot sends him to his knees and he has the gall to ask for mercy. I show him none and I finish him off with the dagger. He has some nice gear, but I'm too tired to wear any heavy armor, so I take his mace, shield, and the bolts lodged in his chest only to see the thug left behind survived the horkers and gimp leg was still in the game.

    I'm still soaked and freezing from the ocean dip and it'll only take one hit to finish me off. I retreat into the cave, sneak past some Falmer bone chimes, and hide in the shadows of ledge with a shaman chattering away at its pet frost spider above. I aim the crossbow at the entrance and wait. The second they hit those chimes, that Falmer is going to blast them with magiks and there's pond I can dive for cover that also wraps back towards the entrance, but they never come. Guess the surviving thugs saw their dead leader, the dark cave marked with Falmer totems, and chose the better part of valor. Once I heard the shaman shuffle away from the ledge, I made my exit to the open sky, half expecting an ambush at the cave entrance, but horker slayer and gimpy were nowhere to be found. I'd survived.

    I had that scene playing out in my head and I loved every second of it. I think I would've died on the spot since I suck (or maybe it's just my framerate). I wouldn't have engaged them either, just run for the hills and find my way back to my stuff.

    • 585 posts
    August 7, 2017 5:56 AM EDT
    By the Nine, Exuro, that was an adventure. I like the quick thinking - using the Horkers as a wall is clutch at its finest.

    If you don't mind me derailing the thread a bit, can I ask what the characters attitude it to being a werebear? Evidently they're used to it by their matter-of-fact approach to losing possessions, but is there a deeper feeling of regret or purpose? And how does it effect they're life? I'm assuming they're nomadic/hermit so don't really interact wit people much, but I'd love to hear the role play behind it.
    • 66 posts
    August 7, 2017 11:23 AM EDT
    Thanks!
    Well he had a nice elven great sword before the last change he'll miss and yeah, he only visits cities in the day (after findings/making some clothes) and sleeps outside far from society. He got infected in Solsthiem, but while a nord, he's not a skaal, he was already more in tune with the jaded dunmer, and came to windhelm seeking a cure based off a rumor, but has no leads, so he needs to visit towns and not be a complete hermit to look for clues. Ironically, he's already attacked Farkas and Vilkas at least once in the wilds.
    • 585 posts
    August 7, 2017 12:17 PM EDT

    Exuro said: Thanks! Well he had a nice elven great sword before the last change he'll miss and yeah, he only visits cities in the day (after findings/making some clothes) and sleeps outside far from society. He got infected in Solsthiem, but while a nord, he's not a skaal, he was already more in tune with the jaded dunmer, and came to windhelm seeking a cure based off a rumor, but has no leads, so he needs to visit towns and not be a complete hermit to look for clues. Ironically, he's already attacked Farkas and Vilkas at least once in the wilds.

    I like your backstory, theres something to be said for someone who relates to the other group/culture in a small land, its like he was destined to be an outlier from the beginning. Its also interesting how his search for a cure is causing havoc on the land that'll save him, something oddly poetic about that if you ask me... Well done dude, this is a great character and I hope to see more of him in the future!

    • 9 posts
    January 15, 2018 10:55 AM EST

    My most "Clutch' moment had to be in Monster Hunter Generations when I was fighting my first Hyper Monster. 

    In Monster Hunter Generations I had finished making  goth dragon edgelord Gore Magala's Blademaster and Gunner armors, which took me a week to complete because Edgelord kept reverting to his non-Eclipse form when I felt I was slo close to breaking his feelers. Upon upgrading his armor and weapon =I used his Light Bowgun Faulnisschleuder= I went into the quests I had downloaded in Multiplayer in the Hunter's Hub . I went Single Player since I wasn't in the mood to coop with other players and, much to my unknown dismay, chose to fight Hyper Gore Magala. How hard can it be? I know all of Gore's moves; shouldn't be a problem. Ten minutes in and I'm already used up half of my potions, all of my Mega Potions, and of course I didn't bring my healing Palicos along. I'm hurting, and I'm hurting bad. I didn't expect Hyper Edgelord to get such a massive power boost.  On the bright side I had brought items to craft ammo with me so I wasn't running out of fire/dragon shots anytime soon. The timer hits the halfway mark and Edgy is probably close to changing, and runs off into a different part of the map. Alright, okay. I enter the map, and BOOM! There's Gore Magala in his Eclipse Form and he just Hawlucha-slammed into my character, instant KO. So I'm down two more tries. 

    I spend time gathering as many materials as I could make -remembering that Edgy never moved from the section of the map that he Eclipse-formed in- and headed back into the fray with restocked potions as well as ammo. I did good for a short while with evading his powerful attacks, and then he does his hop backwards/frenzy explosion trick which not only leaves me with a sliver of health, but stunned. I get KO'd a 2nd time. I am FUMING at this point. Like how is a stronger version of this dick kicking my ass when his normal version isn't even able to get my health down past halfway? So I go in one last time to make this dickwad chill out. During this peroid I'm bouncing back between base camp's bed and eating random herbs I find. Finally the timer is down to five minutes left. I need to get this freakshow down. My Bullet Geyser 2 is fully charged, but my health is nearing its end. You know that moment in Pokemon where your best Pokemon's health is reduced to 5? That's about how much health I had left. Edgy's enraged and although I saw him limping in the next area that could just mean I reached his health just low enough to limp but might not be low enough to finish in the remaining time. At this point I'm thinking okay, I have one shot. If I can just stagger him with this Hunter Art, I might be able to use my last Fire shot on him. If I miss, game over. So let's make this shot count! And what happens? I accidently fire my last Fire Shot and it misses completely.  Gore's AI must've felt confident as he charged at me full force. Hoping it would buy me some time to reload my Normal Shot 2,  I hit my Hunter Art.  My hunter goes flying back, and Hyper Gore Magla runs right into the following explosion. I get a notice on my screen "Main Obective Complete!" I broke down into tears as the quest ended. It was one of the best moments in that game I ever experienced.


    This post was edited by Vipermourn at January 15, 2018 10:56 AM EST
    • 12 posts
    January 15, 2018 12:26 PM EST
    You know in league of legends, when you have been playing a pvp 5v5 for an hour? And your whole team is down, and they are charging down mid to your exposed base? And then your top lane minions run past their recently destroyed inhibitor and take down their Nexus and they just don't react fast enough to kill the last caster minion before he last hits their Nexus. LOL.
    • 261 posts
    January 15, 2018 1:03 PM EST

    Was playing Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (which remains the best Transformers game ever), playing as a robot with a truck alt-mode and a rocket launcher. Was running around, fighting as usual, when I note a sniper on a faraway bridge. I acted fast; my roll dodge made the shot go underneath my arm, as I fired a rocket that somehow landed a headshot. Also, the one time I was playing Capture the Flag as a jet and managed to capture all three flags without dying once. Good times, good times...