What he meant by "acting on his ""instinct"" is, that the main character is only "reacting" to danger when it comes for him, instead of planning multiple plans to save him from danger by making multiple contingencies. Actually, the more I read your story, the more I’m sure that you must read "The Primordial Record", it’s like the perfect solution for your problems, cause of how similar your story is with the only difference being that that author ain’t a newbie
My long comments starts with "Actually" and it’s much longer, so if you don’t see this, open the chat of this chapter, and scroll down to paragraph comments and read the full comment there)
A/N: I am trying to find out ways on how to tone down Watts' overpowered powers. Because it has become pretty much too difficult for me to create high stakes and put him in real trouble when the guy can just create anything to help him out.
Urban · Hanigog_Ronie
Actually, you wouldn’t need to tone down his op nature if you just give him real troubles, like, while he can create anything to help him out, if he truly met someone powerful, they would just erase his soul and his story would end, and if someone manipulated space around him without manipulating him directly, he will just be stuck there no matter what he tries, cause he ain’t having infinite energy but a limited amount of it, so he’d take a lot of time to save enough to create somthing that can save him. Anyway, the real problem is, that the problems you currently give him, are very very small in comparison to his abilities, so you end up toning down his intellect through emotional turmoil and mortal mindset. The thing is, he is a guy, a mortal, with powers far above him, so, it’s like him wielding a big stick around children but not knowing how to carry and move the stick properly. I can tell you, that the power you gave him, and if you gave him a proper mind (I mean, any reader here, can in fact agree that they would already be stronger than this guy on the first few days) then he’d already be much stronger, and what do you do if you have a strong mc? You make everyone else, also very strong. Like, he has basically limitless potential, but you can’t be limitless if he ain’t having infinite energy, and when he has it, then he is still not infinitely efficient with it to match its limitless nature. Basically, he or rather you made him his own limiting factor, if any strong person that lets say, lived for thousands of years or even millions of years where to meet him, I can tell you, even with all the mc can think off, the old ones with their vast experience can easily predict what he will do next, in fact, just analyzing all his known powers and any new one he gets will quickly make them assume everything they can think of and more (cause, if time manipulation etc, exists, then everything else, is basically fair game) In fact, the least of his worries is death, the moment they know his powers, is the moment they would capture him by keeping his soul and mind unconscious through all thing imaginable like putting him under a dream of a perfect simulation of the world and then exploiting him of his abilities to use him as a creation tool to create anything they want. Another step of madness they would do is to try to possess him or any way to manipulate him to give them his powers through his own will. The options are literally endless to rob him of his powers or make him suffer a fate worse than death. So, what he is dealing with right now, are baby enemies in my opinion, they are like children without emotional control. Anyway, the problems are too small, and if I were him, any problem I could solve easily, I would solve easily, because if all those powers exist with one having the most ridiculous one, then literally anything can happen, so, what he truly does not have is in fact "time". I think, if you played it right, you could play around with this time constraint, and also adding the evolution thingy limitation so he can’t just blaze through all levels and become invincible in 1 day. I think, the only thing that can truly make this story exciting and good is a constraint of time, like he is running out of it, ofc don’t do that all the time, in fact, the biggest problem the main character has, is his ignorance, he is missing knowledge, in fact, not only that, but even this type of "mortality" and "humanity" of emotions that he displays is a type of arrogance that could be his doom, cause how dare he be so laid back when literally anything could happen in what he found his new reality to be when his whole world was basically fooled into believing BS, it’s arrogant for him to assume that his enemies give him time, in fact, if he ain’t having this lesson soon, you could already consider him dead if not for his plot armor keeping him alive. Actually, I think you should read "The Primordial Record" and "GREED: All for What?", the first one is the most similar to your story, while the second one is a different state of mind I guess. Anyway, if you read both of them, I think you’d learn what to do with this seemingly "op" main character, cause he can be OP, but his world must be a challenge as well, like, he can basically use his energy that is finite to create anything, but if that thing he creates isn’t enough to save him when the thing that is on a magnitude of a sun exploding or him being thrown in a black hole, then all that creation energy he got, wouldn’t be able to save him
A/N: I am trying to find out ways on how to tone down Watts' overpowered powers. Because it has become pretty much too difficult for me to create high stakes and put him in real trouble when the guy can just create anything to help him out.
Urban · Hanigog_Ronie
3 secs later, "Chloe dies", just because the solution can be solved easily doesn’t mean the easy solution is wrong, sometimes, doing the long one, is a mistake, cause as far as I understand, he can’t revive someone (yet?) so, if something unpredictable happens, like someone killing her soul or mind, then he’d be unable to do anything but watch dumbly
But this time, he paused. He wanted to do it differently. To remember what it felt like to rely on something other than his powers.
Urban · Hanigog_Ronie
Could he have used his creation energy (I mean Xymic energy) if he was conscious? Or is that energy called Aeonborn?
[Element chosen: Aeonborn.]
Urban · Hanigog_Ronie
He doesn’t have to rely on it, in fact, he is a creator, and could give himself some really op abilities
The aura that radiated from the alien was suffocating, an oppressive force of superiority. It wasn't just physical power; it was the undeniable feeling that this creature could destroy everything with a flick of its finger. Watts's mind raced. He couldn't win. Not in any conventional sense. The only weapon he had was his ability to adapt, and he would have to rely on it fully.
Urban · Hanigog_Ronie
Idk why you would hurl stuff, sure it weighs a lot, but the thing is, it ain’t condensed, so at the point of impact, it barely 1/10th of the real weight or even less, it’d only make sense if it was hyper condensed into very very heavy metal, like a tank, if you throw that one with the speed of sound, and it collides with something, the tank with its condensed steel armor will easily swat that thing away
Watts didn't hesitate. With a flick of his wrist, he lifted a demolished bus using his magnetic powers and hurled it toward a cluster of clones. Before it could land, the bus crumbled mid-air, decaying into ash as the shadows devoured it.
Urban · Hanigog_Ronie
GAUNTLET!
These people weren't ordinary. Weapons hung at their sides—not guns or knives, but swords, spears, and gauntlets. Some glowed faintly, humming with an energy that prickled at my senses.
Urban · Hanigog_Ronie
Tbh, gauntlet for the win. I like gauntlets more than any other weapon.
Using my nanobots, I created something like Thanos' blade in my right arm, the one he used in Avengers End Game and blocked Shadow's swing, and then leaning a bit back, I kicked him in the gut.
Urban · Hanigog_Ronie
Cause, at that time, I was forcing myself to read this right after work, so I was kinda stressed and sleepy so I ended up writing what came to my mind at that time
('Amazing, this kid is something special alright. But...')
The Martial Unity
Action · Lord_Streak