Is hitting a peg not "halving" it?

[Annalog]

Tardigrade and the laser pointer both can't seem to proc after the update. I had only the tardigrade as my first item, watched it bounce all over the board, and never saw a peg double or the item itself show proccing.

Just to echo another sentiment - it seems like the difficulty spiked really hard after this update. Not sure if it's the rebalance, or something else is doinked on the backend since some of the items aren't proccing either.

[SPACECATIZZY]

The game is certainly tricky but once you can start to get the hang of when/what to buy (and if you get lucky early game) you can start to snowball games really easily.

As for your first q, no, hitting a peg isn't considered halving it. It counts as a "pop". If you want to halve a peg, you'd need an item like Dancing Dino or my favorite (and arguably the best halving item), Happy Seal.

[TITILUS]

You pop them when you hit them, certain items halve them when triggered, or double, depending on the item.

[Rusty]

Halving is a completely different mechanic than popping. While yes, the pegs do halve by being popped, but it's not the same as an item halving the peg without touching/popping it.

[Pachislot Rockman Ability]

from what I can tell the verbage of skills/items is very particular. Some items will shoot or create effects but if they don't use the term "Summons" then it won't work for the cracked egg perk, and anything that needs "pegs halved" needs stuff like Balloon Dino, Plastic Tree, or the Seal that specifically say they "Halve" pegs (or the seal specifically triggering those effects anyway)

[Annalog]

I was afraid of that. It seems really niche of a proc then. Having items require another item to even do anything is kind of nuts, let alone just making it a 1/4 chance of doubling per proc'd half.

Is there a viable halving build?

[NomadUniverse]

laser pointer doesnt pop pegs

[Pachislot Rockman Ability]

halving builds work well with "triggers every X seconds" items mixed in because a lot of items that Halve pegs also tend to double small-value pegs, resulting in the board being destroyed slower

that being said at least with my experience it feels really hard to get into a decent halving build unless you just play something else and ween yourself onto it very intentionally

...mutant or Bologna Tony can probably manage it pretty well but they're also cuckoo bananas levels of busted