Spell hit cap pvp 85 warlock
Magic shield? Yes or no?
2024.06.09 21:06 Legitimate_Impact989 Magic shield? Yes or no?
 | What are your thoughts on using magic shield? submitted by Legitimate_Impact989 to TibiaMMO [link] [comments] Especially as a MS I’m curious what’s the best option? Right now I’ve been using runes for attack, healing, mana potions, magic shield, and no wand. |
2024.06.09 20:49 Leonidrex666666 Things to do that will make new players have a better time.
1 Enable casters to actually use spells, mem cap is very punishing at low gear and does nothing at high gear. Warlock for example has 9 spell mem... 2 Enable buying ALL grey items at all times, my friend likes X weapon but its not in the squire or in the shop so he cant us it... 3 Let players start with more healing, I think 3 grey pots and 3 grey bandages is reasonable. 4 Spell/Perk clarity. If there is a X perk that applies to something specific, have a list of all things it applies to. 5 List cooldowns of all abilities, or if they are single use make sure its know. 6 Make spells/abilities fully recharged when game starts, its a long time coming but people using spells/abilities in lobby just lose them... 7 Make recovery resting faster. If resting mid-combat for healing is a concern then simply make resting progressively faster the longer you sit. Sitting is boring and recovering 50-100 HP can easily take 1-2 minutes. Same principle applies to spells. 8 At least temporarily make games longer from 15min to 20min. Back before it wasnt an issue because most people knew how to speedrun through everything but new players just dont have enough time to clear rooms let alone get into pvp fights. This is just the stuff off the top of my head.
submitted by Leonidrex666666 to DarkAndDarker [link] [comments]
2024.06.09 19:17 ScarHydreigon87 How to play Lisa in D&D
Today is Lisa's birthday, and to celebrate, I’m writing a guide on how to play as the humble Librarian of the Knights of Favonius in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition.
Let’s start off with our goals for this build. First and Foremost, we need Lightning and lots of it. Next, we need to be charming and alluring to get people to do your bidding. Lastly, we need to be able to provide off-field utility.
For stats, we’ll be using the Standard Point Array from the Player’s Handbook. Roll for stats if you want, just keep your Intelligence high.
15 Intelligence, as you are an excellent scholar and librarian, being Sumeru Akademiya’s most esteemed graduate.
14 Constitution, as you are a bit frail, but still need to take hits.
13 Dexterity, as you need some protection.
12 Charisma, as you are alluring and charming
10 Wisdom, as while you insightful and wise, you do have a sinister and somewhat immoral side
And 8 Strength, as while you do have a knack for climbing, we just don’t need it for this build.
For race, Lisa is a human, and Variant Humans get a Feat. The Elemental Adept Feat will help with your magic. You get to pick an elemental damage type (go for Lightning) and spells you cast of that damage type ignore damage resistances, and you treat any 1s you roll on damage dice for Lightning spells as 2s. Bump your Intelligence and Dexterity with your 2 Free points, take Persuasion for your Skill of Choice, and take the Sage Background for Arcana and History.
We’ll kick things off as a Wizard. 1st Level Wizards can pick 2 skills from the Wizard list. Insight and Religion would be my picks. As a Wizard, you get a Spellbook where you learn your spells from, and you can copy spells you find into your spellbook. You start off with 3 Cantrips and 6 1st-Level Wizard spells of your choice, and you add 2 extra spells to your Spellbook each time you level up as a Wizard, but you can only prepare an amount of spells from your Spellbook equal to your Wizard Level plus your Intelligence modifier. So for the sake of brevity, I’m just gonna list out the spells you can prepare, and you can freely pick whatever other spells you wish to add to your spellbook. For your Cantrips, take Shocking Grasp, Blade Ward, and Prestidigitation. For your spells, Take Shield, Mage Armor, Chromatic Orb, and Witch Bolt. Last but not least, Wizards get Arcane Recovery, letting you recover spell slots of 6th level or below equal to half your Wizard level on a short rest.
2nd Level Wizards can pick an Arcane Tradition, and the School of Evocation is perfect for dealing damage. You’re an Evocation Savant, meaning you can copy Evocation spells into your spellbook in half the time and at half the cost. You can also Sculpt Spells, meaning when you cast an Evocation spell that has an AOE, you can select an amount of creatures within the spell’s range equal to 1 plus the spell’s level to have them automatically succeed on their saving throws and take no damage from the spell. For your spell at this level, take the spell Charm Person.
3rd Level Wizards can learn 2nd Level Spells. Take the spell Hold Person.
4th Level Wizards get an Ability Score Improvement. Bump your Intelligence for better spells. You can now prepare 2 extra spells at this level. Take the Spells Witch Bolt and Silvery Barbs.
5th Level Wizards can learn 3rd Level spells, take the Spell Lightning Bolt.
6th Level Evocation Wizards get Potent Cantrips, meaning enemies that succeed on saving throws against your damaging cantrips still take half damage. For your spell at this level, take the spell Thunder Step.
7th Wizards can learn 4th Level Spells. Take the Spell Storm Sphere.
8th Level Wizards get another Ability Score Improvement. Cap your Intelligence for the best spells. For your 2 extra spells you can prepare, take the spells Misty Step and Thunderwave.
9th Level Wizards can learn 5th Level Spells. Take the Spell Hold Monster.
10th Level Evocation Wizards get Empowered Evocation, letting you add your Intelligence Modifier to one of the damage rolls for your Evocation spells. For your spell at this level, take the spell Dominate Person.
11th Level Wizards can learn 6th Level Spells. Take the spell Chain Lightning.
12th Level Wizards get another Ability Score Improvement or a Feat. We’ll take the Metamagic Adept Feat, letting you pick 2 Metamagic options from the Sorcerer class, and giving you 2 Sorcery points to spend them on which recharge on a long rest. Transmuted Spell lets you spend a sorcery point when you cast a spell that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage to turn it into another one of those damage types. Subtle Spell lets you spend a Sorcery Point to cast a spell without Verbal or Somatic Components.
For your Spell at this level, take the spell Disintegrate.
13th Level Wizards can Learn 7th Level Spells. Take the Spell Prismatic Spray.
14th Level Evocation Wizards get Overchannel, letting you deal max damage when you cast a damaging spell of 5th level or lower. The first time you use this feature, you suffer no adverse effect, but each time you use this feature again before finishing a long rest, you take 2d12 Necrotic damage per level of the spell, increasing by 1d12 per level each time you use it, and this damage cannot be reduced in any way.
For your spell at this Level, take Power Word Pain.
15th Level Wizards can learn 8th Level Spells. Take the Spell Control Weather
16th Level Wizards get another Ability Score Improvement. Bump your Dexterity for better AC.
For your spell at this level, take Delayed Blast Fireball.
17th Level Wizards can learn the highly coveted 9th Level Spells. Take the spell Meteor Swarm.
18th Level Wizards get Spell Mastery, letting you take a 1st Level and 2nd Level Wizard spell and be able to cast them for free. I’d suggest Shield and Misty Step. For your spell at this level, take the spell Wish.
19th Level Wizards get our last Ability Score Improvement. Bump your Constitution for more HP and better concentration. Take the spell Delayed Blast Fireball
Our capstone is the 20th Level of Wizard for Signature Spells, letting you pick two 3rd-Level Wizard spells and cast them once each for free per short or long rest. I’d suggest Lightning Bolt and Thunder Step. For your last prepared spell at this level, take the Spell Shatter.
Now that we’ve hit Level 20, let’s go over the strengths of this build. First, you are an excellent damage dealer with a plethora of Lightning spells at your disposal with Elemental Adept allowing for more consistent damage, and Sculpt Spells letting you use your AOE options safely. You also have the benefit of your spells being long range, letting you fight from a safe distance, plus spells like Misty Step and Thunder Step to create distance. Lastly, you have spells like Charm Person letting you have others do your bidding.
For weaknesses, you are a bit squishy, sitting at around 142 average HP. While you do have a free +5 to AC thanks to Shield, and you have 16 AC with Mage Armor, you can still be whittled down quickly if you're not careful. You also have to be wary of Overchannel, since you can easily lose a lot of HP if you keep going for max damage. You’re also vulnerable to Strength and Charisma saves, meaning you can be easily thrown around and banished. Lastly, a lot of your spells have Dexterity Saving Throws, meaning enemies with Evasion can easily dodge out of the way.
submitted by ScarHydreigon87 to Lisa_Mains [link] [comments]
Let’s start off with our goals for this build. First and Foremost, we need Lightning and lots of it. Next, we need to be charming and alluring to get people to do your bidding. Lastly, we need to be able to provide off-field utility.
For stats, we’ll be using the Standard Point Array from the Player’s Handbook. Roll for stats if you want, just keep your Intelligence high.
15 Intelligence, as you are an excellent scholar and librarian, being Sumeru Akademiya’s most esteemed graduate.
14 Constitution, as you are a bit frail, but still need to take hits.
13 Dexterity, as you need some protection.
12 Charisma, as you are alluring and charming
10 Wisdom, as while you insightful and wise, you do have a sinister and somewhat immoral side
And 8 Strength, as while you do have a knack for climbing, we just don’t need it for this build.
For race, Lisa is a human, and Variant Humans get a Feat. The Elemental Adept Feat will help with your magic. You get to pick an elemental damage type (go for Lightning) and spells you cast of that damage type ignore damage resistances, and you treat any 1s you roll on damage dice for Lightning spells as 2s. Bump your Intelligence and Dexterity with your 2 Free points, take Persuasion for your Skill of Choice, and take the Sage Background for Arcana and History.
We’ll kick things off as a Wizard. 1st Level Wizards can pick 2 skills from the Wizard list. Insight and Religion would be my picks. As a Wizard, you get a Spellbook where you learn your spells from, and you can copy spells you find into your spellbook. You start off with 3 Cantrips and 6 1st-Level Wizard spells of your choice, and you add 2 extra spells to your Spellbook each time you level up as a Wizard, but you can only prepare an amount of spells from your Spellbook equal to your Wizard Level plus your Intelligence modifier. So for the sake of brevity, I’m just gonna list out the spells you can prepare, and you can freely pick whatever other spells you wish to add to your spellbook. For your Cantrips, take Shocking Grasp, Blade Ward, and Prestidigitation. For your spells, Take Shield, Mage Armor, Chromatic Orb, and Witch Bolt. Last but not least, Wizards get Arcane Recovery, letting you recover spell slots of 6th level or below equal to half your Wizard level on a short rest.
2nd Level Wizards can pick an Arcane Tradition, and the School of Evocation is perfect for dealing damage. You’re an Evocation Savant, meaning you can copy Evocation spells into your spellbook in half the time and at half the cost. You can also Sculpt Spells, meaning when you cast an Evocation spell that has an AOE, you can select an amount of creatures within the spell’s range equal to 1 plus the spell’s level to have them automatically succeed on their saving throws and take no damage from the spell. For your spell at this level, take the spell Charm Person.
3rd Level Wizards can learn 2nd Level Spells. Take the spell Hold Person.
4th Level Wizards get an Ability Score Improvement. Bump your Intelligence for better spells. You can now prepare 2 extra spells at this level. Take the Spells Witch Bolt and Silvery Barbs.
5th Level Wizards can learn 3rd Level spells, take the Spell Lightning Bolt.
6th Level Evocation Wizards get Potent Cantrips, meaning enemies that succeed on saving throws against your damaging cantrips still take half damage. For your spell at this level, take the spell Thunder Step.
7th Wizards can learn 4th Level Spells. Take the Spell Storm Sphere.
8th Level Wizards get another Ability Score Improvement. Cap your Intelligence for the best spells. For your 2 extra spells you can prepare, take the spells Misty Step and Thunderwave.
9th Level Wizards can learn 5th Level Spells. Take the Spell Hold Monster.
10th Level Evocation Wizards get Empowered Evocation, letting you add your Intelligence Modifier to one of the damage rolls for your Evocation spells. For your spell at this level, take the spell Dominate Person.
11th Level Wizards can learn 6th Level Spells. Take the spell Chain Lightning.
12th Level Wizards get another Ability Score Improvement or a Feat. We’ll take the Metamagic Adept Feat, letting you pick 2 Metamagic options from the Sorcerer class, and giving you 2 Sorcery points to spend them on which recharge on a long rest. Transmuted Spell lets you spend a sorcery point when you cast a spell that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage to turn it into another one of those damage types. Subtle Spell lets you spend a Sorcery Point to cast a spell without Verbal or Somatic Components.
For your Spell at this level, take the spell Disintegrate.
13th Level Wizards can Learn 7th Level Spells. Take the Spell Prismatic Spray.
14th Level Evocation Wizards get Overchannel, letting you deal max damage when you cast a damaging spell of 5th level or lower. The first time you use this feature, you suffer no adverse effect, but each time you use this feature again before finishing a long rest, you take 2d12 Necrotic damage per level of the spell, increasing by 1d12 per level each time you use it, and this damage cannot be reduced in any way.
For your spell at this Level, take Power Word Pain.
15th Level Wizards can learn 8th Level Spells. Take the Spell Control Weather
16th Level Wizards get another Ability Score Improvement. Bump your Dexterity for better AC.
For your spell at this level, take Delayed Blast Fireball.
17th Level Wizards can learn the highly coveted 9th Level Spells. Take the spell Meteor Swarm.
18th Level Wizards get Spell Mastery, letting you take a 1st Level and 2nd Level Wizard spell and be able to cast them for free. I’d suggest Shield and Misty Step. For your spell at this level, take the spell Wish.
19th Level Wizards get our last Ability Score Improvement. Bump your Constitution for more HP and better concentration. Take the spell Delayed Blast Fireball
Our capstone is the 20th Level of Wizard for Signature Spells, letting you pick two 3rd-Level Wizard spells and cast them once each for free per short or long rest. I’d suggest Lightning Bolt and Thunder Step. For your last prepared spell at this level, take the Spell Shatter.
Now that we’ve hit Level 20, let’s go over the strengths of this build. First, you are an excellent damage dealer with a plethora of Lightning spells at your disposal with Elemental Adept allowing for more consistent damage, and Sculpt Spells letting you use your AOE options safely. You also have the benefit of your spells being long range, letting you fight from a safe distance, plus spells like Misty Step and Thunder Step to create distance. Lastly, you have spells like Charm Person letting you have others do your bidding.
For weaknesses, you are a bit squishy, sitting at around 142 average HP. While you do have a free +5 to AC thanks to Shield, and you have 16 AC with Mage Armor, you can still be whittled down quickly if you're not careful. You also have to be wary of Overchannel, since you can easily lose a lot of HP if you keep going for max damage. You’re also vulnerable to Strength and Charisma saves, meaning you can be easily thrown around and banished. Lastly, a lot of your spells have Dexterity Saving Throws, meaning enemies with Evasion can easily dodge out of the way.
2024.06.09 19:05 Jcb112 Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (83/?)
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Two items — a crystal ball, and a green leather-bound notebook — sat benignly and idly atop of the black-robed professor’s desk.
The camera lingered on them, giving them what most may see as an undeserved moment in the spotlight.
But to those that knew, to the parties invested in this controversy, this little pause and dramatic zoom-in was accompanied by a hair-raising excitement… along with an untempered nervousness for what was to come.
It definitely caused the investigative duo on the other side of the screen some pause for thought; prompting them to stand intently, pondering both the orb and the notebook.
Ilunor, as far as I could tell, was entranced by the green notebook in particular. Though it wasn’t a trance born out of any positive emotion, but instead, one of abject horror.
“Recommended Reading Materials for the Studious Student.” Sorecar announced with a steady breath, prompting Ilunor to visibly flinch in his seat, as the man reached a finger over to point at the hand-scrawled title of the leather-bound notebook. That finger soon found itself carefully manipulating its pages, opening the cover first, before turning over the internal dust-cover to reveal letters and symbols written in High Nexian, but arranged in a manner the EVI simply could not translate.
“Error: Unable to Translate. Cause: Unrecognized and/or unintelligible organization of local script-forms.”
Yet despite this, it seemed as if both Sorecar and the Apprentice were able to draw something from its otherwise senseless pages. As despite being written haphazardly, with letters and pictograms arranged in no meaningful order, they were able to still draw meaning where the EVI couldn’t.
“Within these pages lie materials for the studious student. Materials are to be found within The Library, and are to be retrieved with great haste. May you make swift work of their contents, and may those after you find only ash in your wake. Seek, unlearn, and remove from the grip of the eternal entity, that which was once a gift but is now a curse. Seek, unlearn, and remove; with the fires of your passion, oh studious student.” Sorecar read aloud, managing to read something verbatim from the nonsensical pages of the book.
Ilunor’s eyes were practically glazed over at this point, as he began bringing his cape over across his chest, tucking his legs towards his chin in the process.
“This is it.” The apprentice announced with a half-cracked smile. “Please, keep going. I’m certain your skills of appraisal far exceed my own, Professor.”
Sorecar obliged by flipping the page, turning over to two pages of complete gibberish, once again watermarked by the EVI’s error message; but proving no challenge at all for the ever-inquisitive professor.
“Section One, A Tainted Reality: A Wretched Collection of Historical Affidavits During the Reconciliation and Reformation of Otherwise Lost Realities.” Sorecar paused, before turning towards the apprentice. “It lists an entire section’s worth of books, in titles held within spatial positions with reference to their potentialities within the ever-evolving library.”
Thacea’s features visibly flinched at that revelation, but similar to the apprentice in the footage, she refused to comment. At least not for now. Her eyes however betrayed a look of mild distress, which subsided somewhat as the apprentice urged the armorer to continue.
Which he did, as he flipped from page to page across the relatively small notebook, only pausing to read in between what he interpreted to be different sections and ‘chapters’.
“Section Two. The Unspoken War and the Treacherous Alliance.”
“Section Three. All surviving works from Alaroy Rital.”
The apprentice cocked her head, as if trying to recall some familiarity in that name. “Alaroy Rital.” She repeated. “I don’t recall hearing of such a name before.”
“Well his full name, as far as I recall, and vastly aided by the book is as follows: Alaroy Rital, Lord-Mayor of the Township of the Two Rivers, Slayer of the Dragon of the Grey Canyon, Repeller of the Tainted Blight of the Orsin, Liberator of the Aether, and Grand Master of the Elusian Guild Hall of Adventurers.” Sorecar responded succinctly, prompting the apprentice to once more clench her eyes shut in deep thought, before finally letting out a sigh of defeat.
“The name is both familiar yet foreign at the same time.” She finally admitted.
“As far as I recall, and mind you, my memory of those years are far from perfect… the man was a local hero of sorts. Though his record was besmirched by some controversy or another.” Sorecar offered, prompting the apprentice to finally shrug, giving up on this particular subject matter entirely.
“There are more sections, yes?”
“Correct.”
“Then let’s move on.”
Sorecar nodded promptly at that, flipping the pages over until he hit the next section.
“Section Four. A Sordid Account of the Most Bizarre of Newrealmer Arrivals: A Death By Harmonization and the Ensuing Investigation.”
That immediately got my attention, causing me to jolt forwards, prompting the armor to quickly follow as it automatically switched from the currently active in-armor-postural-readjustment mode, and back into its active configuration.
“Section Five. The Unfortunate Procedures Against Unruly Realms and the Instances in Which Such Procedures Were Incurred.”
The armorer paused after that, not necessarily due to its contents, but as if puzzled by what lay ahead in the next few final pages. In fact, he flipped back and forth between the pages soon after that, treading and retreading what were effectively the last five pages of the book. “There is an appendix which includes titles not covered by these sections, however it will take some time to read through them.”
“That’s enough for now, professor.” The apprentice offered, prompting the man to quickly pull back, closing the notebook with an unsatisfying thump. “We have our glowing wand.” The apprentice surmised. “The oeuvre of works which are no doubt the subject of this grand controversy. Now all we need to find is the contract which ties everything together.”
“I’m assuming you haven’t forgotten about our second item of interest?” Sorecar gestured towards the crystal ball.
“Of course not, professor. However, the fact we’ve found that book implies that we must be close to its dependent article.” The apprentice responded with a renewed sense of urgency, as she began using that same ornate magnifying glass in an attempt to further pick apart each and every nook and cranny of Mal’tory’s desk.
Part of me wanted to make some joke about how this was every unpaid intern’s dream, to be rummaging through your boss’ stuff.
But that part of me was completely buried underneath the confusion and dread that came with the revelations from within that little green book.
I… honestly didn’t know what I was expecting, but I felt like I’d been suckerpunched, with the wind being knocked right out of me from the implications of exactly what had been selectively purged from the library.
It was a struggle to process it all, which more or less made me dull out the more eccentric aspects of the apprentice’s investigation; as she unlocked drawer after drawer, pulling out pile after pile of magical nicknacks and more documents than what was possible from that finite amount of space.
Sorecar was clearly of the same opinion as the rest of us right now however, as he continued obsessing over the book, his hands once more trailing over to inspect its cryptic pages. The man seemed transfixed on the second and third sections in particular, though his featureless visor made it difficult to really pin down what his reactions were.
Yet throughout all of this, it was clear the reactions on the homefront were much, much more animated, as Ilunor was just about ready to pass out from the stress, and Thacea seemed about ready to burst at the seams if her featureless facade was of any indication.
“That was the book.” Ilunor finally chimed out, just as the narration through the recording had died down during the more tepid phase of the apprentice’s investigation. “I know it.”
“I thought your memories when it came to the whole Mal’tory book burning situation was lost, Ilunor?” Thalmin countered.
“It was. I mean, it still is. But I remember parts of that room. I vaguely recall the emergence of a book that I was forced to…” The Vunerian trailed off, as if struggling to piece together words.
“... to sign?” Thalmin offered in a surprisingly helpful tone which stood at odds with how he earlier regarded the Vunerian.
“No. No you imbecil-” The Vunerian paused, realizing his misstep as he backtracked from what would’ve otherwise been an expected response. “That wasn’t a book of binding. It’s not comparable to the yearbook, if that was where your assumptions were leading to, Prince Thalmin.” Ilunor clarified, gripping the armrests of his seat tight between his fingers.
It was about this point in time that I expected Thacea to chime in, to elaborate on the nature of the book with her encyclopedic knowledge on seemingly every aspect of the magical world.
But she didn’t.
Instead, her eyes remained practically glued to the screen, as I realized that whatever had been revealed thus far had hit much, much harder than I could’ve imagined.
Ilunor, as if taking note of this silence, elected to fill in for Thacea. “The book… is an adjacent artifact. It is, as the apprentice has noted, an eclectic oeuvre of works, a list if you will, to be bound to and referenced by a contract and a spell of binding. The book itself isn’t the binding agent, moreso the reference material by which the contract is hinged upon.”
“So what’s with the illegible text? Are they ciphers or some magical equivalent of it?” I gestured once more at the bird’s eye view offered by the drone, and the pages of indecipherable text currently beneath Sorecar’s hands.
“Those are anchor runes, earthrelamer.” Ilunor answered with a frustrated sigh. “It is frustrating to see them for what they are not. Frankly, it’s as if your sight-seers and memory-shards were designed to mimic the world as it is seen through the eyes of a particularly weak-fielded commoner.” The Vunerian went off, venting his frustrations through a rant before finally calming down. “But I digress. Those runes are referred to as anchors for a reason. For tethered to them are akin to pages of text to be openly read and deciphered within the manastreams. Granted, this form of writing is not common; moreso used for the purposes of contracts and other such magical binds.”
“And on the topic of contracts. I’m assuming that the contract… your contract, is what the Apprentice is currently rummaging for?” I gestured towards the screen once more, at the apprentice who was now buried ankle-deep in piles upon piles of books, documents, and an assortment of scrolls that criss-crossed across the room’s mahogany and carpeted floors.
“Unless she’s a complete nitwit, then I’d imagine so, yes.” Ilunor responded with his signature cattiness. “In any case, the fact she’s even trying proves that she’s barely above a fool anyways.” The Vunerian shrugged. “And before you ask, earthrealmer, let me preempt your question. The contract, at least on the professor’s end, has more than likely suffered the same fate as my own. Namely, its existence is more than certain to be dubious at best. What the apprentice will surely find will be nothing more than ash at the bottom of that bottomless drawer. Which… given its sheer size and scale, and the potential inhabitants within its limitless confines, will more than likely result in even ash being difficult if not impossible to find.”
There was… more than one point I wanted to raise with Ilunor’s statements. However, before I could address any of them, the elf in question finally spoke up once more; now surrounded by an entire archive’s worth of documents and nicknacks.
“Nothing.” Larial spoke with a sullen breath, taking a moment to steady herself as she made a point of not sitting on Mal’tory’s chair. “At least nothing that’s relevant to our case.” She continued, resting her palms flat against the green suede of the desk.
“Were you really expecting anything different, Apprentice?” Sorecar countered, having since moved from pondering the pages of the book to now pondering the depths of the crystal ball.
“I’d assumed the damage to the man hadn’t been so severe.” Larial admitted, alluding to something else that drew all of our collective attention. “When I first saw him in the healing ward… he looked… intact. You couldn’t even tell there was anything wrong with him.”
“And yet they called you of all people, to aid in the ritual.” The armorer surmised, with a tone of voice that now more resembled that of a fully fledged Academy Professor. His happy go lucky persona had subsided completely, at least for now, as he addressed Larial in a manner more akin to what I’d expected of the Dean. “You have been around the Academy for long enough to understand that calling upon the aid of apprentices is unprecedented. Which means that despite how things may seem on the surface, that lurking beneath the seemingly calm waters, is a hydrostorm of epic proportions.”
“This entire situation is unprecedented, professor.” Larial countered meekly. “But you are correct. It… must have been desperate if they required the aid of apprentices. I just… cannot fathom the fact that the professors must have…” The apprentice trailed off, her face scrunching up and breaking eye contact with the armorer as if too skittish to broach the next point.
Sorecar didn’t reply, nor did he complete her sentence for her, simply allowing her to recuperate and reorganize her thoughts herself.
“... brought the man back from the brink.” She managed out, offering what was in effect a euphemism that didn’t seem to sit right with the armorer, if his immediate head cock was of any indication.
“That is the only way you can explain the complete loss of a contract.” Sorecar reasoned. “You were hoping to find it, despite knowing well that it, amongst the rest of his contracts, have more than likely gone up in flames.” It was around that point that he walked around behind the desk, and reached down into the drawer the apprentice had been searching in. His arm sank impossibly deep, deeper than what should have been physically possible inside of that small and limited space. After a few moments, the man finally brought his hand back up, holding within it what appeared to be fine specks of ash that he allowed to filter back down into the dark depths of the seemingly bottomless drawer. “And there you have it — ash. Most of it has no doubt already been consumed by the bottom-feeders. However, what remains is enough to account for what is perhaps more contracts than most would form in their lives.”
The man stood back up soon after, before once more taking his place at the front of the desk.
“Well, I believe that answers our prior speculations on Auris Ping’s potential relations, contractual or otherwise, with Professor Mal’tory.” Thalmin growled out, punctuating the moment of silence within the footage; which soon continued with a resonant sigh from the apprentice.
“I guess, in a way, I was trying to find the contract not so much because of my assigned task, but because I wanted to perhaps prove to myself that the situation wasn’t as dire as my intuition leads me to believe. The loss of all these contracts can only mean one thing.” Larial paused, once more trying to find the strength inside of her to face whatever facts were self-evident in this case. “The man was lost.” She finally managed out through a shaky breath. “His soul must have departed from his mortal coil. And yet…”
“... and yet he remains.” Sorecar surmised.
“They must have re-tethered it before I arrived that night.” The apprentice shot back. “But I felt nothing different when they asked me to aid in the mana-channeling processes. This whole situation is just…” She sighed, prompting Sorecar to cock his head.
“Unprecedented?”
“Yes.” The apprentice once more admitted, sinking her face into her hands and taking a moment to process it all, more or less falling into the same camp all of us were currently in. “Moreover, it brings up a very disturbing question.”
“Which is?”
“If his soul was truly untethered, even for a split second… how exactly were they able to retether it? Or more specifically, through what means are they using to permanently retether his soul to his mortal coil?”
This question seemed to cause some level of concern from Sorecar, as his answer soon demonstrated. “There are… ways of doing so that aren’t exclusive to being spellbound to armor.” The man offered under a dour breath. “Especially if the body is… fresh, in a manner of speaking. Though it requires the use of-” He stopped, halting himself from going down what was clearly a darkening path. “I apologize for prompting this rather… dark and dreary subject matter, Apprentice.” Sorecar offered, as that empathetic, kinder side of him returned without much prompting.
“It’s quite alright. It… it needed to be said, if we are to complete this investigation with any degree of professionalism.” The apprentice concluded with a small smile. “Whatever the case may be, it is clear that we are unable to procure the contract through which the perpetrator of the library’s burning was bound. We have, however, undeniable proof of Professor Mal’tory’s involvement with the scandal.” She pointed at the green notebook. “And of course, a potential interloper who may or may not have been a part of this conspiracy; thereby expanding this from a mere Academy matter, to one which could implicate others beyond its walls.” She pointed at the crystal ball. “Have you discovered anything from your observations thus far, Professor?” The apprentice inquired, prompting the man to nod, as he knelt down to eye-level, pondering the orb from desk-height.
“The inherent limitations of the Echovale make it so that it’s near impossible to transcribe anything following the cessation of a communique.” Sorecar began. “Though of course, you knew this, and hoped that because I am perhaps one of the greatest armorers to have ever lived, that I would be able to aid in this impossible endeavor, hmm?” The armorer’s tone of voice had more or less resumed that flighty, happy-go-lucky one I knew him for.
The apprentice, hearing this, could only smile awkwardly in response. “I wouldn’t have put it that… bluntly, professor. But I do indeed have faith in your ability to make the impossible, well… probable, at the least.”
“Hmph! Well, I couldn’t pin a face or a name, but I was able to pin a definite location if that helps.” The man offered.
“Any stray piece of information will help tremendously, professor.”
“The Crownlands.” He answered without a hint of hesitation, prompting the Apprentice to raise both of her brows up high.
“That’s as far as I am able to draw from the residual echoes within the vale.” He tapped at the ball, generating a series of satisfying clinks in the process.
“So the man wasn’t acting alone. Or rather, perhaps he was consulting someone.” The apprentice pondered. “Then again, that final communique could very well be with Lord Lartia—” The apprentice paused, before placing both palms softly across her throat. “—may his soul rest in peaceful slumber.” Following another moment of silence, the apprentice’s hands soon shifted towards the ball. “In any case, if it isn’t Lord Lartia, then who could it possibly be? Maybe we should…” The apprentice suddenly stopped; as if realizing the dangers of diving any deeper into this growing conspiracy. “No.” She quickly corrected herself. “Whatever the case may be, this is probably now completely out of my purview. I was assigned to collect any evidence I deemed to be relevant to recent happenings, and I believe this should suffice.”
“Whatever you believe is best, apprentice.” Sorecar acquiesced, prompting the apprentice to slowly, but surely, pack the archive’s worth of documents, books, and scrolls all back into the drawer using nothing but telekinetic spells.
This left just the crystal ball, and the little green book, both of which the apprentice promptly pocketed into a small pouch, before placing it somewhere beneath her cloak.
“Though on that note…” Sorecar began, pointing towards the apprentice’s cloak. “If I may ask, how do you plan on divvying up these finite pieces of evidence?”
This caught the apprentice off-guard, as her mouth opened, but no response came through.
“Moreover, are you even obligated to hand in this evidence? Or are you only expected to write a report to all parties involved?” Sorecar continued, pressing the matter further, causing the apprentice to stop mid-stride. “Because if primary evidence isn’t explicitly required, might I offer my services as a master forger?” The man spoke with a hint of mischievousness, the duality of the word perhaps translating equally well despite the language barrier.
“I may need to contact my superiors to ask if a… copy will be satisfactory to their needs. I believe not, but… we shall see. In any case, I am due to submit the evidence along with my report no later than the end of next week. As such, this should give me ample time to organize my findings, which is especially convenient given the roster of duties I am expected to cover over the next few days.” The apprentice took a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose, halting her rambles as she steadied herself with a sigh. “But I digress, I believe I will take you up on that offer, Professor Pliska.”
“It would be my pleasure to welcome you into my domain, apprentice.”
The rest of the footage consisted of small talk between the pair, with nothing in particular standing out as the topics being addressed soon turned from high-stakes espionage, and back into faculty banter.
Yet despite that, none of us broke the silence that now dominated the boring trip back. Not even as the footage came to a complete stop, and there was nothing more left to play.
I leaned back against the armor, eliciting a series of creaks from the couch below me, echoing across the high-ceilinged room and disrupting the tentative peace that came with this ominous silence.
“This explains… a lot.” Thalmin offered, finally breaking the silence with a tentative tone of voice. “It explains your contract, and its abrupt cessation.” He continued, turning towards Ilunor. “It explains Mal’tory, or at least, his current lack of public appearances. And it reveals to us exactly what he was trying to hide from you, Emma.” The lupinor eventually turned towards me. “And I think the sections of the library, selectively pruned, are self-explanatory as well.”
“Section four, and section five, at least.” I replied shortly thereafter. “I have no idea who or what Alaroy Rital has to hide in section three, and don’t even get me started on section two, let alone section one.” It was at that point that I turned towards Thacea, who let out a sharp exhale upon me bringing up section one.
“The removal of all information relevant to… and I quote — Tainted Realities — speaks volumes to the inherent fears of the Nexus. Though I know not what specifically they may fear from your discovery of its deep and now-lost lore.” Thacea offered through a pensive gaze. “There are many rumors, legends that come with the phrase Tainted Reality. Though most are mythical; epics of long lost eras that dwell between the blurry line that exists between history and legend. Perhaps the records within the library were pieces of irrefutable evidence that would’ve shed light on this nebulous subject matter. But even so… that begs the question… why? Why would they hide what is effectively a non-issue when it comes to your discovery of its lore? Taint, and more specifically, the concept of a Tainted Reality, is something that is inconsequential in the contemporary world. Its history, even if it proves to be true, is neither a disruptive political element, nor a practical tool for war, that could be used in countering the Nexus.” The avinor’s explanations were clear, concise, and yet they belied something personal that she clearly wasn’t broaching.
And I wasn’t about to dig either, not when this topic very clearly hit close to home for her.
“This leaves the second subject matter then.” I offered, giving the avinor an off-ramp towards a potentially more palatable topic.
“The Unspoken War and the Treacherous Alliance?”
“Correct.” I nodded.
“That… I have no knowledge of.” The avinor admitted, prompting me to turn to both the lupinor and the Vunerian for answers.
“Don’t look at me, earthrealmer, I’m the one who lost all memories on the subject, remember?” Ilunor countered.
“I’m afraid I’m as in the dark as you are on this one, Emma.” Thalmin replied with a loud huff, leaving me with perhaps more questions than answers at this point.
“Right then.” I nodded. “Well, regardless, as disquieting, confusing, and disturbing as these revelations have been, they are exactly that — revelations.” I took a moment to stand up, resting both hands on my hips, as if adopting Ilunor’s more theatrical approach to things. “We started today off with no intel on Mal’tory, with no idea how we were going to complete The Library’s Seekership questline, and no knowledge on exactly where we stood in this game. We’re ending today off with a firm grasp on exactly what we need to do, what exactly was scorched in the library, and a tentative understanding on Mal’tory’s fate. I’d say that’s an incredible step forward, even if the answers we now have are leading to even more questions.”
“Reality is often filled with disturbing truths, but only when we acknowledge them, can we act to change them.” Thacea offered.
“Here here!” Thalmin reaffirmed through a firm stomp, standing up tall and ready.
“While certain revelations come as disappointments… namely the survival of Professor Mal’tory… it is indeed somewhat satisfying to hear that the man is at the very least suffering for his actions.” The little thing spoke maliciously, as he too stood up. This prompted a look of worry to form amidst all three of us, but instead of reacting accordingly, he instead displayed an expression of confusion. “What? The man was a monster! He actively antagonized not only me, but this entire group! Surely you also feel at least some sense of satisfaction at the consequences of his actions catching up to him!”
“The delight in an enemy’s defeat, best comes from the resistance of the blade against his body. Not from the suffering incurred from happenstance.” Thalmin countered, whilst Thacea and I refused to entertain that line of thought, as I quickly placed a palm across my forehead, bonking it once again in the process.
“Right, well, here’s the game plan. We now have a clear target to complete our first objective — the notebook. We grab that, hand it in to the library, and presto, we accomplish the Seekership questline. Now comes the difficult part… how exactly do we do that?” I turned to the group, as offers and suggestions finally came flying in.
“Take advantage of your life debt?” Ilunor offered.
“I wouldn’t take advantage of that card just yet, Ilunor. Not if we have other options.” Thacea countered.
“What if we steal it?” Thalmin proposed.
“Thievery isn’t a diplomatic approach, Thalmin.” Thacea shot back with a glare.
“Well, Emma here was able to grapple her way, through manaless means, across the outside of the castle towards the apprentice whilst she was in the medical wing. I’m sure we can pull something else off in a similar capacity!” The lupinor countered.
“No, Thalmin. As much as I would like to try, I believe it might be best if we try a more diplomatic approach.” I offered, prompting the three to cock their heads.
“We could just ask, right?”
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(Author’s Note: And there we have it! The first step towards the completion of the Library's questline! We've found exactly what we were looking for, the list of books that were ordered to be put to the dragon flame by Mal'tory. With that being said however, a new series of questions arises... exactly why were these books targeted in particular? Moreover, what exactly was lost as a result? These questions and more will continue to linger in the back the gangs' minds as we push forward! Especially as we now find ourselves in the midst of another conundrum, exactly how are we going to get the book to the library! Regardless, this is still a massive step forward, and one that will surely bring Emma and Ilunor closer towards addressing the first phase of their intertwined fates with the library! I hope you guys enjoy! :D The next Two Chapters are already up on Patreon if you guys are interested in getting early access to future chapters!)
[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 84 and Chapter 85 of this story is already out on there!)]
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Two items — a crystal ball, and a green leather-bound notebook — sat benignly and idly atop of the black-robed professor’s desk.
The camera lingered on them, giving them what most may see as an undeserved moment in the spotlight.
But to those that knew, to the parties invested in this controversy, this little pause and dramatic zoom-in was accompanied by a hair-raising excitement… along with an untempered nervousness for what was to come.
It definitely caused the investigative duo on the other side of the screen some pause for thought; prompting them to stand intently, pondering both the orb and the notebook.
Ilunor, as far as I could tell, was entranced by the green notebook in particular. Though it wasn’t a trance born out of any positive emotion, but instead, one of abject horror.
“Recommended Reading Materials for the Studious Student.” Sorecar announced with a steady breath, prompting Ilunor to visibly flinch in his seat, as the man reached a finger over to point at the hand-scrawled title of the leather-bound notebook. That finger soon found itself carefully manipulating its pages, opening the cover first, before turning over the internal dust-cover to reveal letters and symbols written in High Nexian, but arranged in a manner the EVI simply could not translate.
“Error: Unable to Translate. Cause: Unrecognized and/or unintelligible organization of local script-forms.”
Yet despite this, it seemed as if both Sorecar and the Apprentice were able to draw something from its otherwise senseless pages. As despite being written haphazardly, with letters and pictograms arranged in no meaningful order, they were able to still draw meaning where the EVI couldn’t.
“Within these pages lie materials for the studious student. Materials are to be found within The Library, and are to be retrieved with great haste. May you make swift work of their contents, and may those after you find only ash in your wake. Seek, unlearn, and remove from the grip of the eternal entity, that which was once a gift but is now a curse. Seek, unlearn, and remove; with the fires of your passion, oh studious student.” Sorecar read aloud, managing to read something verbatim from the nonsensical pages of the book.
Ilunor’s eyes were practically glazed over at this point, as he began bringing his cape over across his chest, tucking his legs towards his chin in the process.
“This is it.” The apprentice announced with a half-cracked smile. “Please, keep going. I’m certain your skills of appraisal far exceed my own, Professor.”
Sorecar obliged by flipping the page, turning over to two pages of complete gibberish, once again watermarked by the EVI’s error message; but proving no challenge at all for the ever-inquisitive professor.
“Section One, A Tainted Reality: A Wretched Collection of Historical Affidavits During the Reconciliation and Reformation of Otherwise Lost Realities.” Sorecar paused, before turning towards the apprentice. “It lists an entire section’s worth of books, in titles held within spatial positions with reference to their potentialities within the ever-evolving library.”
Thacea’s features visibly flinched at that revelation, but similar to the apprentice in the footage, she refused to comment. At least not for now. Her eyes however betrayed a look of mild distress, which subsided somewhat as the apprentice urged the armorer to continue.
Which he did, as he flipped from page to page across the relatively small notebook, only pausing to read in between what he interpreted to be different sections and ‘chapters’.
“Section Two. The Unspoken War and the Treacherous Alliance.”
“Section Three. All surviving works from Alaroy Rital.”
The apprentice cocked her head, as if trying to recall some familiarity in that name. “Alaroy Rital.” She repeated. “I don’t recall hearing of such a name before.”
“Well his full name, as far as I recall, and vastly aided by the book is as follows: Alaroy Rital, Lord-Mayor of the Township of the Two Rivers, Slayer of the Dragon of the Grey Canyon, Repeller of the Tainted Blight of the Orsin, Liberator of the Aether, and Grand Master of the Elusian Guild Hall of Adventurers.” Sorecar responded succinctly, prompting the apprentice to once more clench her eyes shut in deep thought, before finally letting out a sigh of defeat.
“The name is both familiar yet foreign at the same time.” She finally admitted.
“As far as I recall, and mind you, my memory of those years are far from perfect… the man was a local hero of sorts. Though his record was besmirched by some controversy or another.” Sorecar offered, prompting the apprentice to finally shrug, giving up on this particular subject matter entirely.
“There are more sections, yes?”
“Correct.”
“Then let’s move on.”
Sorecar nodded promptly at that, flipping the pages over until he hit the next section.
“Section Four. A Sordid Account of the Most Bizarre of Newrealmer Arrivals: A Death By Harmonization and the Ensuing Investigation.”
That immediately got my attention, causing me to jolt forwards, prompting the armor to quickly follow as it automatically switched from the currently active in-armor-postural-readjustment mode, and back into its active configuration.
“Section Five. The Unfortunate Procedures Against Unruly Realms and the Instances in Which Such Procedures Were Incurred.”
The armorer paused after that, not necessarily due to its contents, but as if puzzled by what lay ahead in the next few final pages. In fact, he flipped back and forth between the pages soon after that, treading and retreading what were effectively the last five pages of the book. “There is an appendix which includes titles not covered by these sections, however it will take some time to read through them.”
“That’s enough for now, professor.” The apprentice offered, prompting the man to quickly pull back, closing the notebook with an unsatisfying thump. “We have our glowing wand.” The apprentice surmised. “The oeuvre of works which are no doubt the subject of this grand controversy. Now all we need to find is the contract which ties everything together.”
“I’m assuming you haven’t forgotten about our second item of interest?” Sorecar gestured towards the crystal ball.
“Of course not, professor. However, the fact we’ve found that book implies that we must be close to its dependent article.” The apprentice responded with a renewed sense of urgency, as she began using that same ornate magnifying glass in an attempt to further pick apart each and every nook and cranny of Mal’tory’s desk.
Part of me wanted to make some joke about how this was every unpaid intern’s dream, to be rummaging through your boss’ stuff.
But that part of me was completely buried underneath the confusion and dread that came with the revelations from within that little green book.
I… honestly didn’t know what I was expecting, but I felt like I’d been suckerpunched, with the wind being knocked right out of me from the implications of exactly what had been selectively purged from the library.
It was a struggle to process it all, which more or less made me dull out the more eccentric aspects of the apprentice’s investigation; as she unlocked drawer after drawer, pulling out pile after pile of magical nicknacks and more documents than what was possible from that finite amount of space.
Sorecar was clearly of the same opinion as the rest of us right now however, as he continued obsessing over the book, his hands once more trailing over to inspect its cryptic pages. The man seemed transfixed on the second and third sections in particular, though his featureless visor made it difficult to really pin down what his reactions were.
Yet throughout all of this, it was clear the reactions on the homefront were much, much more animated, as Ilunor was just about ready to pass out from the stress, and Thacea seemed about ready to burst at the seams if her featureless facade was of any indication.
“That was the book.” Ilunor finally chimed out, just as the narration through the recording had died down during the more tepid phase of the apprentice’s investigation. “I know it.”
“I thought your memories when it came to the whole Mal’tory book burning situation was lost, Ilunor?” Thalmin countered.
“It was. I mean, it still is. But I remember parts of that room. I vaguely recall the emergence of a book that I was forced to…” The Vunerian trailed off, as if struggling to piece together words.
“... to sign?” Thalmin offered in a surprisingly helpful tone which stood at odds with how he earlier regarded the Vunerian.
“No. No you imbecil-” The Vunerian paused, realizing his misstep as he backtracked from what would’ve otherwise been an expected response. “That wasn’t a book of binding. It’s not comparable to the yearbook, if that was where your assumptions were leading to, Prince Thalmin.” Ilunor clarified, gripping the armrests of his seat tight between his fingers.
It was about this point in time that I expected Thacea to chime in, to elaborate on the nature of the book with her encyclopedic knowledge on seemingly every aspect of the magical world.
But she didn’t.
Instead, her eyes remained practically glued to the screen, as I realized that whatever had been revealed thus far had hit much, much harder than I could’ve imagined.
Ilunor, as if taking note of this silence, elected to fill in for Thacea. “The book… is an adjacent artifact. It is, as the apprentice has noted, an eclectic oeuvre of works, a list if you will, to be bound to and referenced by a contract and a spell of binding. The book itself isn’t the binding agent, moreso the reference material by which the contract is hinged upon.”
“So what’s with the illegible text? Are they ciphers or some magical equivalent of it?” I gestured once more at the bird’s eye view offered by the drone, and the pages of indecipherable text currently beneath Sorecar’s hands.
“Those are anchor runes, earthrelamer.” Ilunor answered with a frustrated sigh. “It is frustrating to see them for what they are not. Frankly, it’s as if your sight-seers and memory-shards were designed to mimic the world as it is seen through the eyes of a particularly weak-fielded commoner.” The Vunerian went off, venting his frustrations through a rant before finally calming down. “But I digress. Those runes are referred to as anchors for a reason. For tethered to them are akin to pages of text to be openly read and deciphered within the manastreams. Granted, this form of writing is not common; moreso used for the purposes of contracts and other such magical binds.”
“And on the topic of contracts. I’m assuming that the contract… your contract, is what the Apprentice is currently rummaging for?” I gestured towards the screen once more, at the apprentice who was now buried ankle-deep in piles upon piles of books, documents, and an assortment of scrolls that criss-crossed across the room’s mahogany and carpeted floors.
“Unless she’s a complete nitwit, then I’d imagine so, yes.” Ilunor responded with his signature cattiness. “In any case, the fact she’s even trying proves that she’s barely above a fool anyways.” The Vunerian shrugged. “And before you ask, earthrealmer, let me preempt your question. The contract, at least on the professor’s end, has more than likely suffered the same fate as my own. Namely, its existence is more than certain to be dubious at best. What the apprentice will surely find will be nothing more than ash at the bottom of that bottomless drawer. Which… given its sheer size and scale, and the potential inhabitants within its limitless confines, will more than likely result in even ash being difficult if not impossible to find.”
There was… more than one point I wanted to raise with Ilunor’s statements. However, before I could address any of them, the elf in question finally spoke up once more; now surrounded by an entire archive’s worth of documents and nicknacks.
“Nothing.” Larial spoke with a sullen breath, taking a moment to steady herself as she made a point of not sitting on Mal’tory’s chair. “At least nothing that’s relevant to our case.” She continued, resting her palms flat against the green suede of the desk.
“Were you really expecting anything different, Apprentice?” Sorecar countered, having since moved from pondering the pages of the book to now pondering the depths of the crystal ball.
“I’d assumed the damage to the man hadn’t been so severe.” Larial admitted, alluding to something else that drew all of our collective attention. “When I first saw him in the healing ward… he looked… intact. You couldn’t even tell there was anything wrong with him.”
“And yet they called you of all people, to aid in the ritual.” The armorer surmised, with a tone of voice that now more resembled that of a fully fledged Academy Professor. His happy go lucky persona had subsided completely, at least for now, as he addressed Larial in a manner more akin to what I’d expected of the Dean. “You have been around the Academy for long enough to understand that calling upon the aid of apprentices is unprecedented. Which means that despite how things may seem on the surface, that lurking beneath the seemingly calm waters, is a hydrostorm of epic proportions.”
“This entire situation is unprecedented, professor.” Larial countered meekly. “But you are correct. It… must have been desperate if they required the aid of apprentices. I just… cannot fathom the fact that the professors must have…” The apprentice trailed off, her face scrunching up and breaking eye contact with the armorer as if too skittish to broach the next point.
Sorecar didn’t reply, nor did he complete her sentence for her, simply allowing her to recuperate and reorganize her thoughts herself.
“... brought the man back from the brink.” She managed out, offering what was in effect a euphemism that didn’t seem to sit right with the armorer, if his immediate head cock was of any indication.
“That is the only way you can explain the complete loss of a contract.” Sorecar reasoned. “You were hoping to find it, despite knowing well that it, amongst the rest of his contracts, have more than likely gone up in flames.” It was around that point that he walked around behind the desk, and reached down into the drawer the apprentice had been searching in. His arm sank impossibly deep, deeper than what should have been physically possible inside of that small and limited space. After a few moments, the man finally brought his hand back up, holding within it what appeared to be fine specks of ash that he allowed to filter back down into the dark depths of the seemingly bottomless drawer. “And there you have it — ash. Most of it has no doubt already been consumed by the bottom-feeders. However, what remains is enough to account for what is perhaps more contracts than most would form in their lives.”
The man stood back up soon after, before once more taking his place at the front of the desk.
“Well, I believe that answers our prior speculations on Auris Ping’s potential relations, contractual or otherwise, with Professor Mal’tory.” Thalmin growled out, punctuating the moment of silence within the footage; which soon continued with a resonant sigh from the apprentice.
“I guess, in a way, I was trying to find the contract not so much because of my assigned task, but because I wanted to perhaps prove to myself that the situation wasn’t as dire as my intuition leads me to believe. The loss of all these contracts can only mean one thing.” Larial paused, once more trying to find the strength inside of her to face whatever facts were self-evident in this case. “The man was lost.” She finally managed out through a shaky breath. “His soul must have departed from his mortal coil. And yet…”
“... and yet he remains.” Sorecar surmised.
“They must have re-tethered it before I arrived that night.” The apprentice shot back. “But I felt nothing different when they asked me to aid in the mana-channeling processes. This whole situation is just…” She sighed, prompting Sorecar to cock his head.
“Unprecedented?”
“Yes.” The apprentice once more admitted, sinking her face into her hands and taking a moment to process it all, more or less falling into the same camp all of us were currently in. “Moreover, it brings up a very disturbing question.”
“Which is?”
“If his soul was truly untethered, even for a split second… how exactly were they able to retether it? Or more specifically, through what means are they using to permanently retether his soul to his mortal coil?”
This question seemed to cause some level of concern from Sorecar, as his answer soon demonstrated. “There are… ways of doing so that aren’t exclusive to being spellbound to armor.” The man offered under a dour breath. “Especially if the body is… fresh, in a manner of speaking. Though it requires the use of-” He stopped, halting himself from going down what was clearly a darkening path. “I apologize for prompting this rather… dark and dreary subject matter, Apprentice.” Sorecar offered, as that empathetic, kinder side of him returned without much prompting.
“It’s quite alright. It… it needed to be said, if we are to complete this investigation with any degree of professionalism.” The apprentice concluded with a small smile. “Whatever the case may be, it is clear that we are unable to procure the contract through which the perpetrator of the library’s burning was bound. We have, however, undeniable proof of Professor Mal’tory’s involvement with the scandal.” She pointed at the green notebook. “And of course, a potential interloper who may or may not have been a part of this conspiracy; thereby expanding this from a mere Academy matter, to one which could implicate others beyond its walls.” She pointed at the crystal ball. “Have you discovered anything from your observations thus far, Professor?” The apprentice inquired, prompting the man to nod, as he knelt down to eye-level, pondering the orb from desk-height.
“The inherent limitations of the Echovale make it so that it’s near impossible to transcribe anything following the cessation of a communique.” Sorecar began. “Though of course, you knew this, and hoped that because I am perhaps one of the greatest armorers to have ever lived, that I would be able to aid in this impossible endeavor, hmm?” The armorer’s tone of voice had more or less resumed that flighty, happy-go-lucky one I knew him for.
The apprentice, hearing this, could only smile awkwardly in response. “I wouldn’t have put it that… bluntly, professor. But I do indeed have faith in your ability to make the impossible, well… probable, at the least.”
“Hmph! Well, I couldn’t pin a face or a name, but I was able to pin a definite location if that helps.” The man offered.
“Any stray piece of information will help tremendously, professor.”
“The Crownlands.” He answered without a hint of hesitation, prompting the Apprentice to raise both of her brows up high.
“That’s as far as I am able to draw from the residual echoes within the vale.” He tapped at the ball, generating a series of satisfying clinks in the process.
“So the man wasn’t acting alone. Or rather, perhaps he was consulting someone.” The apprentice pondered. “Then again, that final communique could very well be with Lord Lartia—” The apprentice paused, before placing both palms softly across her throat. “—may his soul rest in peaceful slumber.” Following another moment of silence, the apprentice’s hands soon shifted towards the ball. “In any case, if it isn’t Lord Lartia, then who could it possibly be? Maybe we should…” The apprentice suddenly stopped; as if realizing the dangers of diving any deeper into this growing conspiracy. “No.” She quickly corrected herself. “Whatever the case may be, this is probably now completely out of my purview. I was assigned to collect any evidence I deemed to be relevant to recent happenings, and I believe this should suffice.”
“Whatever you believe is best, apprentice.” Sorecar acquiesced, prompting the apprentice to slowly, but surely, pack the archive’s worth of documents, books, and scrolls all back into the drawer using nothing but telekinetic spells.
This left just the crystal ball, and the little green book, both of which the apprentice promptly pocketed into a small pouch, before placing it somewhere beneath her cloak.
“Though on that note…” Sorecar began, pointing towards the apprentice’s cloak. “If I may ask, how do you plan on divvying up these finite pieces of evidence?”
This caught the apprentice off-guard, as her mouth opened, but no response came through.
“Moreover, are you even obligated to hand in this evidence? Or are you only expected to write a report to all parties involved?” Sorecar continued, pressing the matter further, causing the apprentice to stop mid-stride. “Because if primary evidence isn’t explicitly required, might I offer my services as a master forger?” The man spoke with a hint of mischievousness, the duality of the word perhaps translating equally well despite the language barrier.
“I may need to contact my superiors to ask if a… copy will be satisfactory to their needs. I believe not, but… we shall see. In any case, I am due to submit the evidence along with my report no later than the end of next week. As such, this should give me ample time to organize my findings, which is especially convenient given the roster of duties I am expected to cover over the next few days.” The apprentice took a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose, halting her rambles as she steadied herself with a sigh. “But I digress, I believe I will take you up on that offer, Professor Pliska.”
“It would be my pleasure to welcome you into my domain, apprentice.”
The rest of the footage consisted of small talk between the pair, with nothing in particular standing out as the topics being addressed soon turned from high-stakes espionage, and back into faculty banter.
Yet despite that, none of us broke the silence that now dominated the boring trip back. Not even as the footage came to a complete stop, and there was nothing more left to play.
I leaned back against the armor, eliciting a series of creaks from the couch below me, echoing across the high-ceilinged room and disrupting the tentative peace that came with this ominous silence.
“This explains… a lot.” Thalmin offered, finally breaking the silence with a tentative tone of voice. “It explains your contract, and its abrupt cessation.” He continued, turning towards Ilunor. “It explains Mal’tory, or at least, his current lack of public appearances. And it reveals to us exactly what he was trying to hide from you, Emma.” The lupinor eventually turned towards me. “And I think the sections of the library, selectively pruned, are self-explanatory as well.”
“Section four, and section five, at least.” I replied shortly thereafter. “I have no idea who or what Alaroy Rital has to hide in section three, and don’t even get me started on section two, let alone section one.” It was at that point that I turned towards Thacea, who let out a sharp exhale upon me bringing up section one.
“The removal of all information relevant to… and I quote — Tainted Realities — speaks volumes to the inherent fears of the Nexus. Though I know not what specifically they may fear from your discovery of its deep and now-lost lore.” Thacea offered through a pensive gaze. “There are many rumors, legends that come with the phrase Tainted Reality. Though most are mythical; epics of long lost eras that dwell between the blurry line that exists between history and legend. Perhaps the records within the library were pieces of irrefutable evidence that would’ve shed light on this nebulous subject matter. But even so… that begs the question… why? Why would they hide what is effectively a non-issue when it comes to your discovery of its lore? Taint, and more specifically, the concept of a Tainted Reality, is something that is inconsequential in the contemporary world. Its history, even if it proves to be true, is neither a disruptive political element, nor a practical tool for war, that could be used in countering the Nexus.” The avinor’s explanations were clear, concise, and yet they belied something personal that she clearly wasn’t broaching.
And I wasn’t about to dig either, not when this topic very clearly hit close to home for her.
“This leaves the second subject matter then.” I offered, giving the avinor an off-ramp towards a potentially more palatable topic.
“The Unspoken War and the Treacherous Alliance?”
“Correct.” I nodded.
“That… I have no knowledge of.” The avinor admitted, prompting me to turn to both the lupinor and the Vunerian for answers.
“Don’t look at me, earthrealmer, I’m the one who lost all memories on the subject, remember?” Ilunor countered.
“I’m afraid I’m as in the dark as you are on this one, Emma.” Thalmin replied with a loud huff, leaving me with perhaps more questions than answers at this point.
“Right then.” I nodded. “Well, regardless, as disquieting, confusing, and disturbing as these revelations have been, they are exactly that — revelations.” I took a moment to stand up, resting both hands on my hips, as if adopting Ilunor’s more theatrical approach to things. “We started today off with no intel on Mal’tory, with no idea how we were going to complete The Library’s Seekership questline, and no knowledge on exactly where we stood in this game. We’re ending today off with a firm grasp on exactly what we need to do, what exactly was scorched in the library, and a tentative understanding on Mal’tory’s fate. I’d say that’s an incredible step forward, even if the answers we now have are leading to even more questions.”
“Reality is often filled with disturbing truths, but only when we acknowledge them, can we act to change them.” Thacea offered.
“Here here!” Thalmin reaffirmed through a firm stomp, standing up tall and ready.
“While certain revelations come as disappointments… namely the survival of Professor Mal’tory… it is indeed somewhat satisfying to hear that the man is at the very least suffering for his actions.” The little thing spoke maliciously, as he too stood up. This prompted a look of worry to form amidst all three of us, but instead of reacting accordingly, he instead displayed an expression of confusion. “What? The man was a monster! He actively antagonized not only me, but this entire group! Surely you also feel at least some sense of satisfaction at the consequences of his actions catching up to him!”
“The delight in an enemy’s defeat, best comes from the resistance of the blade against his body. Not from the suffering incurred from happenstance.” Thalmin countered, whilst Thacea and I refused to entertain that line of thought, as I quickly placed a palm across my forehead, bonking it once again in the process.
“Right, well, here’s the game plan. We now have a clear target to complete our first objective — the notebook. We grab that, hand it in to the library, and presto, we accomplish the Seekership questline. Now comes the difficult part… how exactly do we do that?” I turned to the group, as offers and suggestions finally came flying in.
“Take advantage of your life debt?” Ilunor offered.
“I wouldn’t take advantage of that card just yet, Ilunor. Not if we have other options.” Thacea countered.
“What if we steal it?” Thalmin proposed.
“Thievery isn’t a diplomatic approach, Thalmin.” Thacea shot back with a glare.
“Well, Emma here was able to grapple her way, through manaless means, across the outside of the castle towards the apprentice whilst she was in the medical wing. I’m sure we can pull something else off in a similar capacity!” The lupinor countered.
“No, Thalmin. As much as I would like to try, I believe it might be best if we try a more diplomatic approach.” I offered, prompting the three to cock their heads.
“We could just ask, right?”
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(Author’s Note: And there we have it! The first step towards the completion of the Library's questline! We've found exactly what we were looking for, the list of books that were ordered to be put to the dragon flame by Mal'tory. With that being said however, a new series of questions arises... exactly why were these books targeted in particular? Moreover, what exactly was lost as a result? These questions and more will continue to linger in the back the gangs' minds as we push forward! Especially as we now find ourselves in the midst of another conundrum, exactly how are we going to get the book to the library! Regardless, this is still a massive step forward, and one that will surely bring Emma and Ilunor closer towards addressing the first phase of their intertwined fates with the library! I hope you guys enjoy! :D The next Two Chapters are already up on Patreon if you guys are interested in getting early access to future chapters!)
[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 84 and Chapter 85 of this story is already out on there!)]
2024.06.09 18:28 Diablo689er We will see a new Low this year post honeymoon
I'm sure this post will go over like a lead balloon, but oh well.
Let me start off by saying that Bungie crushed the expansion in terms of a conclusion to the 10 year saga. The campaign is all you could ask for. SE looks to be one of the hardest ever, and the 12-man mission was very cathartic. Hats off to them for that.
But at the end of the day, what has changed verses a year ago beyond some small balance issues like bringing pulse rifles up to parity?
submitted by Diablo689er to DestinyTheGame [link] [comments]
Let me start off by saying that Bungie crushed the expansion in terms of a conclusion to the 10 year saga. The campaign is all you could ask for. SE looks to be one of the hardest ever, and the 12-man mission was very cathartic. Hats off to them for that.
But at the end of the day, what has changed verses a year ago beyond some small balance issues like bringing pulse rifles up to parity?
- Build crafting is still in the same state it has been for a while with limited mod selection and relatively few trade offs to make.
- They've once again made the choice to ignore subclass balance in place of farming engagement with new shiny thing. From the story it appears prismatic was probably always the plan, but they never got the subclasses to a point where there was a healthy tradeoff between prismatic as jack of all trades and indvidual elements have their role to play. This is pretty evident when it comes to certain facets where your choice is "do I run a void super and get a 50 hp overshield on orb pickup or do I run a strand super that does more damage and get 30% damage reduction?"
- The same goes for exotics. I'm really not following the mindset that the exotic armor balancing is following. They added heavy handed to Claws of DA and saw it's usage do what? Go from 0.1% to 0.2% and concluded it was a solution they should apply to armamentarium? No work appears to have been done on providing diversity of exotics. Instead they're apparently happy to leave most in the dust as unusable or otherwise relegated to "pve/pvp only for niche uses". I may have not seen an epic moment like defeating the witness in my gaming history for over a decade (AQ in wow comes to mind) but it's still less rare than me seeing someone using arbor warden.
- The subclasses aren't balanced and as everyone can tell from the contest mode breakdown the balance and identity across titan/warlock/hunter isn't balanced either. Hunters are 1 or 2 nerfs away from being the pvp class again and titans just have a confused power identity.
- The economy is still as confusing as ever with the most important currencies time gated - punishing new lights.
- Those same new lights are further punished by having to purchase a whole host of random expansions which are sometimes free, sometimes on sale, sometimes full price.
- They can't seem to decide on an overall game direction for several facets of the core game:
- Light level matters - we need to upgrade our gear. Except it doesn't, and our power level is capped in most activities. Except it does because there's a minimum light level. Except it doesn't because we have some new modifier which artificially brings up our light level based on the fireteam.
- Pathfinder has replaced bounties. Except it hasn't in some older destinations and vendors. But it has for new destinations.
- The ritual game experiences are important and we are going to tie pathfinder rewards to them. Except we're going to make the rewards for pathfinder diminishing so people are incentivized to stop playing them, and not actually make the core game experience rewarding.
- DPS should be a varied with plentiful competing options based on build crafting and difficulty to execute. Except now lets release Still Hunt, Hazardous Propulsion and Song of Flame to watch the world burn. Oh, and surges EVERYWHERE for good measure.
- Crafting is there to smooth out the weapon grind and free up vault space. Except it ruins the chase and now we're going to limit the number of guns that can be crafted and increase vault space.
2024.06.09 18:07 Nhika PSA to people not "familiar" with guilds and how they work. (Avoid pyramid scams lol)
So for people that don't know, guilds can "afford" to pay EVERY player the "max" payout of 5m per day. I've seen some scummy guilds not even give this out before.
To further exaggerate the Pyramid schemes of guild payouts.. 70% (average guestimate) of the guild "bank" can be also "PAID" to members from a tier of 1 to 10. But this requires at least 10+ NON NEW JOINS to the guild to be ONLINE at the time of payment.
One excuse I've heard, is that other players "deserve" more for knocking out guild missions. This is dumb because they already get the silver from killing the monsters + quest (10 per day). It's simple for the GM and his "buddies" to hog all 10 missions, get 50-100m+ per quest every day, then absorb T10 payout and say no one else is "contributing" to the guild.
Guild missions pay both the player AND the guild the same amount. So 10 missions per day, not including the "pity" guild money for X number of players. Small guild (1-25) Medium - 100mil Large - 200mil XL - 300mil per week.
This also effects(affects?) the size of missions you guys get, each server has a different rotation so be sure to check every server.
PvP guild payments; I believe (PLEASE CORRECT ME IN COMMENTS) -> If they place a node on siege day, everyone gets 300mil gold bar just for "ready up" on siege day. And if you control a T2+, you can buy caphras bundles from the T2 vendors in town.
"Health/Weight/Breath" potions - not really worth giving out since events exist, but good options if you guild needs someone specific for a certain task (like rerolling off-meta to meta classes and giving them health potions to hit HP cap).
-example of my payout in a AFK guild, I did absolutely nothing and got 50m per week!
-please use this thread of you are holding one of the "leveled" up guilds and willing to pass your GM to another active player (pm me I'm also looking for one - too lazy to level one up LOL)
submitted by Nhika to blackdesertonline [link] [comments]
To further exaggerate the Pyramid schemes of guild payouts.. 70% (average guestimate) of the guild "bank" can be also "PAID" to members from a tier of 1 to 10. But this requires at least 10+ NON NEW JOINS to the guild to be ONLINE at the time of payment.
One excuse I've heard, is that other players "deserve" more for knocking out guild missions. This is dumb because they already get the silver from killing the monsters + quest (10 per day). It's simple for the GM and his "buddies" to hog all 10 missions, get 50-100m+ per quest every day, then absorb T10 payout and say no one else is "contributing" to the guild.
Guild missions pay both the player AND the guild the same amount. So 10 missions per day, not including the "pity" guild money for X number of players. Small guild (1-25) Medium - 100mil Large - 200mil XL - 300mil per week.
This also effects(affects?) the size of missions you guys get, each server has a different rotation so be sure to check every server.
PvP guild payments; I believe (PLEASE CORRECT ME IN COMMENTS) -> If they place a node on siege day, everyone gets 300mil gold bar just for "ready up" on siege day. And if you control a T2+, you can buy caphras bundles from the T2 vendors in town.
"Health/Weight/Breath" potions - not really worth giving out since events exist, but good options if you guild needs someone specific for a certain task (like rerolling off-meta to meta classes and giving them health potions to hit HP cap).
-example of my payout in a AFK guild, I did absolutely nothing and got 50m per week!
-please use this thread of you are holding one of the "leveled" up guilds and willing to pass your GM to another active player (pm me I'm also looking for one - too lazy to level one up LOL)
2024.06.09 16:22 Relevant-Rope8814 Attacking with the Hexblade and Bladesinger, is it worth it?
I know these are two very beloved subclasses and can be argued as the strongest in their respective fields, granting both new defensive and offensive options, but my question today is about melee attacks vs spells and cantrips.
Is it ever worth making melee attacks vs using cantrips?
By the time the Bladesinger gets their second attack their offensive cantrips are dealing 2d8/2d10, granted with no modifiers, and the Hexblade has to use an invocation slot to get their second attack, not to mention all the versatility that comes from Eldritch Blast and its supporting invocations.
Also, while it's great that it gives them the option to be melee combatants, and gives them the defensive boosts to help with this, they are still ultimately a warlock and a wizard so don't want to be in melee too much, even the Bladesinger with that crazy AC, if they do get hit that damage is coming out of a wizard's low health.
Lastly, if melee attacking is much riskier than staying back and using cantrips, what could be done to make it more worth it, to really emphasise that melee/caster build?
With the Hexblade I think it could be cool if every melee attack landed restored some health, not crazy amounts, maybe your prof bonus' worth each hit? This gives you a bit more survivability and make the tit for tat of being a frontliner more worth it.
With the Bladesinger maybe some variant of Wizard smite, where you can expend a spell slot and deal 2d8 force/psychic damage or something? This make melee better, and I don't think it's too unbalanced because they need to use a spell slot which a wizard could be using to a more problematic effect.
What are your thoughts on the above? Am I overlooking the melee capabilities of these two, ate my suggestions for improving it good or bad or too powerful?
submitted by Relevant-Rope8814 to dndnext [link] [comments]
Is it ever worth making melee attacks vs using cantrips?
By the time the Bladesinger gets their second attack their offensive cantrips are dealing 2d8/2d10, granted with no modifiers, and the Hexblade has to use an invocation slot to get their second attack, not to mention all the versatility that comes from Eldritch Blast and its supporting invocations.
Also, while it's great that it gives them the option to be melee combatants, and gives them the defensive boosts to help with this, they are still ultimately a warlock and a wizard so don't want to be in melee too much, even the Bladesinger with that crazy AC, if they do get hit that damage is coming out of a wizard's low health.
Lastly, if melee attacking is much riskier than staying back and using cantrips, what could be done to make it more worth it, to really emphasise that melee/caster build?
With the Hexblade I think it could be cool if every melee attack landed restored some health, not crazy amounts, maybe your prof bonus' worth each hit? This gives you a bit more survivability and make the tit for tat of being a frontliner more worth it.
With the Bladesinger maybe some variant of Wizard smite, where you can expend a spell slot and deal 2d8 force/psychic damage or something? This make melee better, and I don't think it's too unbalanced because they need to use a spell slot which a wizard could be using to a more problematic effect.
What are your thoughts on the above? Am I overlooking the melee capabilities of these two, ate my suggestions for improving it good or bad or too powerful?
2024.06.09 14:41 No_Marzipan_1230 Industrial Mage: Modernizing a Magical World Chapter 10 – Holden Affairs & Numbers Going Up!
Synopsis:
An engineer from earth blends science and magic to achieve greatness in another world where skills and levels reign supreme.
—
Ethan was just a plain old engineer, but everything changed when he was reborn into a world of skills, levels, and magic. With his advanced knowledge far ahead of the time period he finds himself in, this new reincarnated life will be much different than his last, especially because he can construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct runes—something no one else can do.
But with royal politics, looming tax collectors, a mountain of debt, dungeon incursions, cults, and hostile fantasy races mixing together into a cocktail of bullshit that threatens to bury his dreams; Ethan must bridge the gap between steel and sorcery to grow stronger. — What to Expect:
- Weak to very strong progression with a Sword & Magic MC that kicks a whole lotta ass. - Fast pacing. A balance of action galore, politics, kingdom building, and slow-burn runecrafting. - Fun, satisfying moments. An extra shot of happiness when reading. Hardcore wish fulfillment. Hyper competent MC. - MC will trigger an industrial revolution, abolish slavery, revolutionize magic, modernize agriculture, communication, commerce, textile production, education, transportation, sanitation, weapons manufacturing, leisure & entertainment, and medicine. - Dark truths of a medieval-esque society going under change.
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Beside him, Roland stood with a hand on the pommel of his sword—a habit Ethan had grown accustomed to. Leaning back, Ethan opened his mouth.
“Alright, gentlemen. Let’s get through this.”
Cedric cleared his throat. “First, my lord, the harvest report.” He unfolded the top parchment. “The rains were late this year, my lord. We’re looking at a significant shortfall in barley and oats.”
Ethan frowned. “Roland,” he switched focus. “The scouting report on the bandits? Has Sir Thomas revealed something? What about the brigands?”
“Sir Thomas has been tight-lipped. The brigands have been bolder, my lord. Spotted them harassing farmsteads near Holden’s western border.
“Have we identified the culprits?”
“No, my Lord. But they seem organized, well-equipped. Too well-equipped, I might say.”
Ethan drummed his fingers on the desk. This wasn’t your typical ragtag group of cutthroats, that much was clear. “Some sort of a group, then.”
“Yes.”
“Mobilize a patrol. Set a few archers down range. Kill the bandits on sight, we can’t have them acting bolder.”
Roland nodded, his chin bobbing, face emotionless.
“Any other news? Have we received word from the neighboring barons regarding the proposed trade agreement?” Ethan asked.
“Yes, my lord. Sir Jack informed me that one of his ravens returned this morning; he says they spotted two men bearing the crest of the crown—”
“Tax collectors,” Ethan interrupted. “They should already be in Siez by now, then.”
Siez was a city two weeks’ ride from Holden.
“Well then, we must do something about the harvest,” Ethan murmured. He had some ideas, but all of them would require money.
“As for trade... Everyone has denied, like usual. Lord Ashton has been with Holden since Lord Baelgard’s death, but even he appears hesitant now. Cites concerns about the quality of our goods.”
“Hmm. Excuses.” Ethan sighed. “He doesn’t want to work with us anymore. He’s likely receiving pressure; I don’t blame him. I’ve offended quite a lot of nobles in my... teen years.”
Ethan cleared his throat. “We’ll send another sample,” Ethan decided, his voice firm. “Along with a personal letter outlining the benefits of trade with Holden, only this time, including soap; I’m sure he’ll latch onto the opportunity if he has some foresight.”
Ashton was playing politics, but they couldn’t afford to alienate their only potential trading partner.
The rest of the morning was spent in a similar vein—discussing minor squabbles amongst the populace, a few dead bodies that were reported, potential repairs needed on the crumbling town walls, and other matters regarding Holden.
***
Ethan entered the space sectioned off by iron grills inside the quarantined house in the outskirts of Holden. Covering his in a mask, he stepped over the grills, into the open hall with rows of beds lining both sides. He was here to take a look at the patients and if they were getting treated. They were. Undoubtedly. Some even showed signs of recovery. They stood up spotting him, then bowed.
“Lord Theodore! What an honor!” A woman said, then burst into tears holding onto her daughter’s hand. “Thank you for letting me live, Lord.” She sobbed as she buried her face on the sleeping child.
Ethan frowned, feeling uncomfortable. They hadn’t gone past their third stages of the disease. They weren’t even on their second one. That was why it’d been easier to treat them.
“Yes, my lord,” a man joined them, speaking. “You’re the only noble that’s spared us peasants a glance. Truly, thank you.”
Feeling even more uncomfortable, Ethan gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “I only hope you all get better.”
They smiled as he smiled back through the mask. Ethan quickly made his way out, then furrowed his brows as he met Miller outside. “Miller, why have you not pulled out those that have recovered? Letting them stay inside would only get them infected again or cause their condition to worsen.”
Miller’s face turned white. “My—my lord, but—but we cannot just remove them!” He took a deep breath. “If we let them go, they could infect others in Holden. If those infected catch wind of their neighbors recovering, wouldn’t they try to force their way into quarantine just to get healed and recover?” His eyes turned shifty, showing some sort of apprehension and panic.
Ethan glared. “Miller, you’re smart, are you not?” He narrowed his eyes. “Get them out of here, as soon as possible. I ordered everyone infected be brought in, logistics be damned! I’m paying it out of my pockets! You need not worry about those that might be infected. What do you even mean? We’re constantly on the lookout, if we found someone, they’d be here already.”
“Yes, about that, my lord,” Miller said nervously, looking away. “People fear. Many would rather stay quiet than let others know if they’re infected. Plus, it’s easier said than done. My men would get attacked. Anyone can get killed easily, they’re not Classed. or a large horde of desperate people might push forward in an instant.”
Ethan didn’t say anything. Gulping, Miller continued.
“And, my men are too few. There are not enough men to patrol and get the affected. Not to mention people would riot against it, fearing their loved ones are getting slaughtered for some ritual and that there’s no salvation. Especially given that a few dead bodies have been found recently,” Miller bowed, swallowed. “Forgive me for saying this, my lord, but people do not trust you.”
Miller slumped against his chair, staring at the ceiling. Ethan silently took his seat, thinking over what Miller had said. In the end, he could only sigh. “Get every infected here, do not worry about aurums.” It costed a lot of money—aurums—to get people treated. However, it wasn’t that much. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Ethan changed the subject. “Miller,” Ethan said. “How’re tests going?”
Miller frowned, a finger on his chin as he hummed thoughtfully. “We’ve encountered an issue; mostly with the later stage tainted. We’d expected it, too, however, we need some kind of a solution.”
“What issue?”
“Their skin is rotting; we cannot just have them use soap and hot water to keep clean. There needs to be something to address their wounds directly, first.” Miller sighed. “A [Healer], perhaps. But they’re expensive, my Lord. I am not sure if that is what you would want. Not to mention, another issue is that Sir Jack has yet to build something he calls nexus—he says you would know what that is. He’s currently using himself as said nexus, but says he would need to talk to you on that matter later to figure out some solution.”
“Is that so?” Ethan hummed, reclining back into his chair. Hiring a [Healer] would indeed be a pain. He was already paying Jack quite the sum each day, not to mention the [Beast Tamer] he’d had to hire to take care of Wynd. If he were to hire a [Healer] now, it would make a dent on his pockets that he wouldn’t be able to recover from. Not to mention, he needed to worry more about the financial situation now—the tax collectors would be arriving sooner or later, and the Merchants Guild would want their debt paid with interest. He couldn’t be stuck in a rut of indebtedness forever.
That said, soap would be excellent for the majority of the populace, the only time there would be an issue would be when someone’s already at the stage where their flesh starts to rot. If there were something, he had to consider it*... Are there alternatives?*
Unlikely.
Ethan took a breath, then leaned back into his chair, steepling his hands. What do I currently need?
Money. Money would solve a lot of his issues. Ethan hummed, stood up, then turned on his heel and walked out. Before getting out, however, he looked over his shoulder. “Tell Jack to keep working on updating the base spell. Make it more efficient, if possible. Leave the rest to me.”
I’ll figure something out...
He needed to—he wanted to.
Roland stood outside the carriage, and as he saw Ethan approaching, he turned to him. “My Lord.”
“Roland, let’s go,” Ethan said, grabbing the carriage’s handle, pulling the door open, and climbing inside. “We have work to do.”
“As you wish, my Lord.”
Reclined against the cushioned seat of the carriage, Ethan hummed. The solution to getting more money was rather simple.
My masterpiece needs to hit the market. Ethan smiled.
***
Ethan settled into a routine; he’d wake up with the first rays of sunlight filtering through his window. He’d stretch, and feel the satisfying pops in his back before heading outside to find Wynd already waiting for him, tail wagging excitedly. They’d take a brisk run through the dewy field. Ethan would spend a good hour playing with Wynd. The [Beast Tamer] Grandma Millie had a natural connection with Wynd, and Ethan was learning to understand how to handle a wolf under her guidance. Ethan knew that Wynd wasn’t quite a normal magical beast, heck, he was sure that Wynd would sooner or later hit some kind of magical puberty that’ll sky rocket his intelligence and allow him to speak or whatever, but regardless of everything, learning how to handle him was a good move. He was, after all, quite like a pet right now.
Regardless, he’d practice the [Elemental Spells] he knew: fire and water.
One day, he finally leveled it up.
[Elemental Spells] — Lvl 9 -> Lvl 10!
Warning: Level cap for [Elemental Spells] reached; satisfy the conditions to upgrade [Elemental Spells].
Interesting. Ethan thought, rubbing his chin. However, given that there was no information, he was confused so as to how to satisfy said conditions. I will figure it out, he shrugged, for now, I need to learn the other elements first.
Aside from that particular day’s highlight, his routine would continue as usual. After a satisfying breakfast, it would be time to get down to business. He’d perfected the basic soap recipe, and now it was time to ramp up production. With the success in making the first batch of soap, and the thought of making money, quick, in his mind, he’d started working extra hard to get more soap made. He found himself busier than ever. He’d sit in there for hours and create rune motes after rune motes. One by one, they’d materialize on top of his palms, swirling tiny fireflies.
Just like usual, one particular day, he was creating rune motes.
Ten… twenty… thirty… his brow furrowed in concentration.
Forty… fifty… and then, sixty rune motes. [Basic Rune Creation] skill leveled up, too, and a satisfied grin spread across his face the two times it did level up.
[Basic Rune Creation] – Lvl 5 -> Lvl 6!
[Basic Rune Creation] – Lvl 6 -> Lvl 7!
The number of motes he could create and the speed at which he did it had noticeably improved after each level. It drained his mana reserves daily. He’d often find himself with a dull ache behind his eyes, but he’d pushed on regardless, ignoring the beginnings of a headache and sometimes it’d blow into a full-blown migraine due to his stubbornness.
One such afternoon, as he slumped, massaging his temples, an idea struck him.
“Meditation,” he murmured. Perhaps focusing his mind inward, like calming a churning lake, could help manage his mana pool. It was usually like that in those novels he used to read back in middle school.
The first few days were frustrating. He sat cross-legged on a cushion, eyes closed, trying to clear his mind, but his thoughts kept flitting back to the ever-growing pile of soap base and the dwindling supply of rune motes (Jack hadn’t disappointed him, after all; the man was fast and his money’s worth, if not more. In fact, Ethan found it harder to keep up). Just as he was getting frustrated, a warmth bloomed within him, a gentle hum that resonated deep within something he could only describe as a core. He cracked open his eyes, a surprised gasp escaping his lips.
A notification appeared before him.
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submitted by No_Marzipan_1230 to HFY [link] [comments]
An engineer from earth blends science and magic to achieve greatness in another world where skills and levels reign supreme.
—
Ethan was just a plain old engineer, but everything changed when he was reborn into a world of skills, levels, and magic. With his advanced knowledge far ahead of the time period he finds himself in, this new reincarnated life will be much different than his last, especially because he can construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct runes—something no one else can do.
But with royal politics, looming tax collectors, a mountain of debt, dungeon incursions, cults, and hostile fantasy races mixing together into a cocktail of bullshit that threatens to bury his dreams; Ethan must bridge the gap between steel and sorcery to grow stronger. — What to Expect:
- Weak to very strong progression with a Sword & Magic MC that kicks a whole lotta ass. - Fast pacing. A balance of action galore, politics, kingdom building, and slow-burn runecrafting. - Fun, satisfying moments. An extra shot of happiness when reading. Hardcore wish fulfillment. Hyper competent MC. - MC will trigger an industrial revolution, abolish slavery, revolutionize magic, modernize agriculture, communication, commerce, textile production, education, transportation, sanitation, weapons manufacturing, leisure & entertainment, and medicine. - Dark truths of a medieval-esque society going under change.
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Chapter 10
Ethan surveyed the men before him, schooling his expression. Cedric was one of his advisors, a lean man, taller than the average in Holden, and wiry, but with the unmistakable long and callused fingers of someone well skilled with a bow. It was odd to see such features, but Ethan wasn’t one to point it out or talk about it. A perpetual worried crease etched between his brows; he shuffled a stack of parchments.Beside him, Roland stood with a hand on the pommel of his sword—a habit Ethan had grown accustomed to. Leaning back, Ethan opened his mouth.
“Alright, gentlemen. Let’s get through this.”
Cedric cleared his throat. “First, my lord, the harvest report.” He unfolded the top parchment. “The rains were late this year, my lord. We’re looking at a significant shortfall in barley and oats.”
Ethan frowned. “Roland,” he switched focus. “The scouting report on the bandits? Has Sir Thomas revealed something? What about the brigands?”
“Sir Thomas has been tight-lipped. The brigands have been bolder, my lord. Spotted them harassing farmsteads near Holden’s western border.
“Have we identified the culprits?”
“No, my Lord. But they seem organized, well-equipped. Too well-equipped, I might say.”
Ethan drummed his fingers on the desk. This wasn’t your typical ragtag group of cutthroats, that much was clear. “Some sort of a group, then.”
“Yes.”
“Mobilize a patrol. Set a few archers down range. Kill the bandits on sight, we can’t have them acting bolder.”
Roland nodded, his chin bobbing, face emotionless.
“Any other news? Have we received word from the neighboring barons regarding the proposed trade agreement?” Ethan asked.
“Yes, my lord. Sir Jack informed me that one of his ravens returned this morning; he says they spotted two men bearing the crest of the crown—”
“Tax collectors,” Ethan interrupted. “They should already be in Siez by now, then.”
Siez was a city two weeks’ ride from Holden.
“Well then, we must do something about the harvest,” Ethan murmured. He had some ideas, but all of them would require money.
“As for trade... Everyone has denied, like usual. Lord Ashton has been with Holden since Lord Baelgard’s death, but even he appears hesitant now. Cites concerns about the quality of our goods.”
“Hmm. Excuses.” Ethan sighed. “He doesn’t want to work with us anymore. He’s likely receiving pressure; I don’t blame him. I’ve offended quite a lot of nobles in my... teen years.”
Ethan cleared his throat. “We’ll send another sample,” Ethan decided, his voice firm. “Along with a personal letter outlining the benefits of trade with Holden, only this time, including soap; I’m sure he’ll latch onto the opportunity if he has some foresight.”
Ashton was playing politics, but they couldn’t afford to alienate their only potential trading partner.
The rest of the morning was spent in a similar vein—discussing minor squabbles amongst the populace, a few dead bodies that were reported, potential repairs needed on the crumbling town walls, and other matters regarding Holden.
***
Ethan entered the space sectioned off by iron grills inside the quarantined house in the outskirts of Holden. Covering his in a mask, he stepped over the grills, into the open hall with rows of beds lining both sides. He was here to take a look at the patients and if they were getting treated. They were. Undoubtedly. Some even showed signs of recovery. They stood up spotting him, then bowed.
“Lord Theodore! What an honor!” A woman said, then burst into tears holding onto her daughter’s hand. “Thank you for letting me live, Lord.” She sobbed as she buried her face on the sleeping child.
Ethan frowned, feeling uncomfortable. They hadn’t gone past their third stages of the disease. They weren’t even on their second one. That was why it’d been easier to treat them.
“Yes, my lord,” a man joined them, speaking. “You’re the only noble that’s spared us peasants a glance. Truly, thank you.”
Feeling even more uncomfortable, Ethan gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “I only hope you all get better.”
They smiled as he smiled back through the mask. Ethan quickly made his way out, then furrowed his brows as he met Miller outside. “Miller, why have you not pulled out those that have recovered? Letting them stay inside would only get them infected again or cause their condition to worsen.”
Miller’s face turned white. “My—my lord, but—but we cannot just remove them!” He took a deep breath. “If we let them go, they could infect others in Holden. If those infected catch wind of their neighbors recovering, wouldn’t they try to force their way into quarantine just to get healed and recover?” His eyes turned shifty, showing some sort of apprehension and panic.
Ethan glared. “Miller, you’re smart, are you not?” He narrowed his eyes. “Get them out of here, as soon as possible. I ordered everyone infected be brought in, logistics be damned! I’m paying it out of my pockets! You need not worry about those that might be infected. What do you even mean? We’re constantly on the lookout, if we found someone, they’d be here already.”
“Yes, about that, my lord,” Miller said nervously, looking away. “People fear. Many would rather stay quiet than let others know if they’re infected. Plus, it’s easier said than done. My men would get attacked. Anyone can get killed easily, they’re not Classed. or a large horde of desperate people might push forward in an instant.”
Ethan didn’t say anything. Gulping, Miller continued.
“And, my men are too few. There are not enough men to patrol and get the affected. Not to mention people would riot against it, fearing their loved ones are getting slaughtered for some ritual and that there’s no salvation. Especially given that a few dead bodies have been found recently,” Miller bowed, swallowed. “Forgive me for saying this, my lord, but people do not trust you.”
Miller slumped against his chair, staring at the ceiling. Ethan silently took his seat, thinking over what Miller had said. In the end, he could only sigh. “Get every infected here, do not worry about aurums.” It costed a lot of money—aurums—to get people treated. However, it wasn’t that much. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Ethan changed the subject. “Miller,” Ethan said. “How’re tests going?”
Miller frowned, a finger on his chin as he hummed thoughtfully. “We’ve encountered an issue; mostly with the later stage tainted. We’d expected it, too, however, we need some kind of a solution.”
“What issue?”
“Their skin is rotting; we cannot just have them use soap and hot water to keep clean. There needs to be something to address their wounds directly, first.” Miller sighed. “A [Healer], perhaps. But they’re expensive, my Lord. I am not sure if that is what you would want. Not to mention, another issue is that Sir Jack has yet to build something he calls nexus—he says you would know what that is. He’s currently using himself as said nexus, but says he would need to talk to you on that matter later to figure out some solution.”
“Is that so?” Ethan hummed, reclining back into his chair. Hiring a [Healer] would indeed be a pain. He was already paying Jack quite the sum each day, not to mention the [Beast Tamer] he’d had to hire to take care of Wynd. If he were to hire a [Healer] now, it would make a dent on his pockets that he wouldn’t be able to recover from. Not to mention, he needed to worry more about the financial situation now—the tax collectors would be arriving sooner or later, and the Merchants Guild would want their debt paid with interest. He couldn’t be stuck in a rut of indebtedness forever.
That said, soap would be excellent for the majority of the populace, the only time there would be an issue would be when someone’s already at the stage where their flesh starts to rot. If there were something, he had to consider it*... Are there alternatives?*
Unlikely.
Ethan took a breath, then leaned back into his chair, steepling his hands. What do I currently need?
Money. Money would solve a lot of his issues. Ethan hummed, stood up, then turned on his heel and walked out. Before getting out, however, he looked over his shoulder. “Tell Jack to keep working on updating the base spell. Make it more efficient, if possible. Leave the rest to me.”
I’ll figure something out...
He needed to—he wanted to.
Roland stood outside the carriage, and as he saw Ethan approaching, he turned to him. “My Lord.”
“Roland, let’s go,” Ethan said, grabbing the carriage’s handle, pulling the door open, and climbing inside. “We have work to do.”
“As you wish, my Lord.”
Reclined against the cushioned seat of the carriage, Ethan hummed. The solution to getting more money was rather simple.
My masterpiece needs to hit the market. Ethan smiled.
***
Ethan settled into a routine; he’d wake up with the first rays of sunlight filtering through his window. He’d stretch, and feel the satisfying pops in his back before heading outside to find Wynd already waiting for him, tail wagging excitedly. They’d take a brisk run through the dewy field. Ethan would spend a good hour playing with Wynd. The [Beast Tamer] Grandma Millie had a natural connection with Wynd, and Ethan was learning to understand how to handle a wolf under her guidance. Ethan knew that Wynd wasn’t quite a normal magical beast, heck, he was sure that Wynd would sooner or later hit some kind of magical puberty that’ll sky rocket his intelligence and allow him to speak or whatever, but regardless of everything, learning how to handle him was a good move. He was, after all, quite like a pet right now.
Regardless, he’d practice the [Elemental Spells] he knew: fire and water.
One day, he finally leveled it up.
[Elemental Spells] — Lvl 9 -> Lvl 10!
Warning: Level cap for [Elemental Spells] reached; satisfy the conditions to upgrade [Elemental Spells].
Interesting. Ethan thought, rubbing his chin. However, given that there was no information, he was confused so as to how to satisfy said conditions. I will figure it out, he shrugged, for now, I need to learn the other elements first.
Aside from that particular day’s highlight, his routine would continue as usual. After a satisfying breakfast, it would be time to get down to business. He’d perfected the basic soap recipe, and now it was time to ramp up production. With the success in making the first batch of soap, and the thought of making money, quick, in his mind, he’d started working extra hard to get more soap made. He found himself busier than ever. He’d sit in there for hours and create rune motes after rune motes. One by one, they’d materialize on top of his palms, swirling tiny fireflies.
Just like usual, one particular day, he was creating rune motes.
Ten… twenty… thirty… his brow furrowed in concentration.
Forty… fifty… and then, sixty rune motes. [Basic Rune Creation] skill leveled up, too, and a satisfied grin spread across his face the two times it did level up.
[Basic Rune Creation] – Lvl 5 -> Lvl 6!
[Basic Rune Creation] – Lvl 6 -> Lvl 7!
The number of motes he could create and the speed at which he did it had noticeably improved after each level. It drained his mana reserves daily. He’d often find himself with a dull ache behind his eyes, but he’d pushed on regardless, ignoring the beginnings of a headache and sometimes it’d blow into a full-blown migraine due to his stubbornness.
One such afternoon, as he slumped, massaging his temples, an idea struck him.
“Meditation,” he murmured. Perhaps focusing his mind inward, like calming a churning lake, could help manage his mana pool. It was usually like that in those novels he used to read back in middle school.
The first few days were frustrating. He sat cross-legged on a cushion, eyes closed, trying to clear his mind, but his thoughts kept flitting back to the ever-growing pile of soap base and the dwindling supply of rune motes (Jack hadn’t disappointed him, after all; the man was fast and his money’s worth, if not more. In fact, Ethan found it harder to keep up). Just as he was getting frustrated, a warmth bloomed within him, a gentle hum that resonated deep within something he could only describe as a core. He cracked open his eyes, a surprised gasp escaping his lips.
A notification appeared before him.
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2024.06.09 14:03 MinMaxRex Bard seems to be the most powerful class in the game?
On my Sword Bard 11/Fighter 1 Tav, I wield Dual Handbows and can use Slashing Flourish (Ranged) twice due to extra attack, and then a bonus action single shot as well. I can cast Longstrider on everyone. I can summon an Air Myrmidion (6th Level spell) which can teleport to targets and stun them if they fail their save. I can use Glyph of Warding (Sleep) before a fight if I feel I need it. Also Bards get Counterspell!
Now make all 4 party members this build. You can have 4 Myrmidions of whatever element you need for the day's fighting, and that is besides summons like the 4 ghouls from Danse Macabre which you won't even need. 4 Glyphs of Warding if you need them. If every party member wins initiative (which with max dexterity and "Alert" you always will), each member can shoot 5 arrows at an enemy (Slashing Flourish Ranged twice, then bonus action shot), = 20 arrows. If every arrow hits at an average of 10 damage each, that is 200 damage. From Ranged, so even if you don't kill the target, on their turn they have to waste an action dashing to you.
Here is the icing on the cake. Slashing Flourish (Ranged) can be used up, but it refreshes fully on a Short Rest. Each Bard gets 1 Song of Rest which provides a Short Rest too the whole party. So with these 4 Bards you have 6 Short Rests at your disposal. If you conserve your spell slots/don't even need to use them, you could fight 6 major fights where you need to use all your Slashing Flourishes in a day, and that is besides the minor fights that you don't even need to use a Flourish on.
A group of Level 12 fighters might be able to do personal damage better with their 2-3 attacks + Action Surge against bosses and against minor fights easily win without using Short Rest or Long Rest skills, but fights cannot summon Myrmidions and don't have Counterspell.
So, is there any other class build that, especially as a 4 member team, is this powerful? I'm looking for examples that are maybe more powerful but require Long Rest more often, or a different class that can do something similar like Warlock using Eldritch Blast cantrip never needing to even Short Rest to keep using it.
submitted by MinMaxRex to BaldursGate3 [link] [comments]
Now make all 4 party members this build. You can have 4 Myrmidions of whatever element you need for the day's fighting, and that is besides summons like the 4 ghouls from Danse Macabre which you won't even need. 4 Glyphs of Warding if you need them. If every party member wins initiative (which with max dexterity and "Alert" you always will), each member can shoot 5 arrows at an enemy (Slashing Flourish Ranged twice, then bonus action shot), = 20 arrows. If every arrow hits at an average of 10 damage each, that is 200 damage. From Ranged, so even if you don't kill the target, on their turn they have to waste an action dashing to you.
Here is the icing on the cake. Slashing Flourish (Ranged) can be used up, but it refreshes fully on a Short Rest. Each Bard gets 1 Song of Rest which provides a Short Rest too the whole party. So with these 4 Bards you have 6 Short Rests at your disposal. If you conserve your spell slots/don't even need to use them, you could fight 6 major fights where you need to use all your Slashing Flourishes in a day, and that is besides the minor fights that you don't even need to use a Flourish on.
A group of Level 12 fighters might be able to do personal damage better with their 2-3 attacks + Action Surge against bosses and against minor fights easily win without using Short Rest or Long Rest skills, but fights cannot summon Myrmidions and don't have Counterspell.
So, is there any other class build that, especially as a 4 member team, is this powerful? I'm looking for examples that are maybe more powerful but require Long Rest more often, or a different class that can do something similar like Warlock using Eldritch Blast cantrip never needing to even Short Rest to keep using it.
2024.06.09 12:39 KokoHekumatiaru Beginners guide to Soulmask, with no BS.
Hello there. If you are like me, you might also be a bit allergic to all the guides out there, that start with "please hit like and subscribe", followed by 10 minutes of chatter around what you need help with, for something that could`ve taken 30 seconds to explain.
With that out of the way, welcome to my No-BullS#$t guide to Soulmask, outlining everything I`ve learned in 80 hours playing on a server rented from G-Portal.
I am going to assume that everyone is somewhat accustomed to the bare basics of the game and how it plays so I will stick to only highlighting things that I learned myself.
-The Claw tribe has the best overall fighters for every weapon school
-The Fang tribe specializes in Remedies, healing and Poisons (Alchemy) so they make for great Alchemists overall, but do very well in relation to ranged combat so make for decent companions, if you prefer having a ranged helper along, they are good for this.
-The Flint tribe are supposedly the clever ones who are all about evolving and furthering their tribe's development so naturally, they make for great crafters.
-The outcasts don`t belong to any tribes and their stats as such are completely random. You can find great ones of course but expect a lower chance of finding what you need, compared to if you were chasing the more specialized tribes.
-Source: Personal experience after deterring roughly 800 Barbarians and while I know the pool isn`t very big, but it is high enough for me to be positive that the level of a deterred barb does not affect their max proficiency level, only what it starts at.
-Labourers are great at the collection of materials: Logging, Mining, Harvesting
-Craftsmen: Any crafting, completely random which ones they are given. Also supposed to unlock various tribes medium/advanced clothing and costumes if they are found in a fortress(Only 3 fortresses at the minute.) Potentially bugged right now though as I`ve deterred 50+ Craftsmen of varying levels from Novice to Master Craftsmen in a Flint fortress with 0 unlocks as of yet).
-Porters: Good at working the Kiln and or Furnace but they are also Great at transporting large quantities of items over longer distances as their weight limits are different and they have positive traits that affect how having more weight makes them move faster etc. (Unlocks the first tribe clothing too. Level 20-25 area barracks)
-Well-made DOCs sheet showing the various difference between the tribes as well as the Perks and Traits people have discovered thus far. Thank you to fatheals for sharing it with us, albeit I do not know the owner and creator of the sheet so if anyone knows and can share that with us, I`d like to add them as well.
Tribe Differences
That`s it for now, if there`s anything else you want to know, just ask in the comments and I will add it to the guide too. But these are some of the things I see being asked the most, so instead of commenting in each post and repeating myself, I will update this one with new info.
-You can have 7 different buffs active at any one time. 3 Meals, 2 Drinks, 1 Medical and 1 "unhealthy" one in the Cigar. Types of buffs: Staple Food, Recreational, Beverage, Vegetable/Fruit, Meat, Medical Potion and finally a Cigar.
Thank you u/fatheals & u/tadian for the info.
-Having multiple Armor sets with different mods on them will be a benefit, even though it is grindy. Having one with Heat, Cold, Poison and Radiation protection will be the difference between surviving or dyeing.
-Repairing a Weapon or Armor WILL remove the MOD that is on them, so keep this in mind. Repair first, then put on the mod of choice.
-IMPORTANT: You can in fact have EVERY single mod that fits in each respective category on a single piece of Armor, this includes but is not limited to every resistance for example: Poisonproof, chill proof, heat proof and so on.
-One good example of when it helped me was in my first Ancient Ruin Dungeon/Holy Ruin where I encountered an enemy type that took essentially 0 damage until I threw a Corrosion bomb on them so use it and you will find that while doing the classic Unga Bunga works, sometimes. Having a bit more tact does come in handy.
-The higher tiered ones can be acquired by deterring craftsmen from Fortresses, albeit. I have yet to unlock a single one, even after numerous deters and full tames, so this might be something that the devs will need to look into, so if you`ve been chasing it as well, know that you are not alone friend.
-Right-side options are all active besides Spawning monsters and barbarians whilst a player is inside a barrack. PVP, Friendly fire, Cross-Server and applying output multipliers to the special items.
-General: Barb Taming speed 2.5, Proportion of Daytime 0.8, Tribe recruitment limit 100, Mood increase 1.5, Mood Reduction 0.5, Personal animal Quantity 20. The chest drop level is special in that we tested this out, but changing it will bug certain chests, keeping them from respawning loot over time so we left it at 0.
-EXP & Growth: Awareness, character and mask is 3. Proficiency, Collection, Craft, Monster-Kill and Other Exp multipliers are all 2.5, Kill EXP sharing 1. Max awareness 60.
-Output & Drops are all set to 1.5, Crop growth, Crafting Speed. Chest Drop multiplier, Animal growth and hatching speed are all 2.
-Building: I turned off Building Decay because we hate that mechanic, but if I notice people stop playing I`ll turn it on to clear up the map.
-Refresh: Vegetation Respawn Speed 1
-Combat: Dmg against wildlife 1.3, Dmg from wildlife 0.7, Wildlife quality 2, not touched PVP.
-Consumption: Durability 0.5, Repair reduces the durability 0.2, I don`t want people to craft a single set of items and just endlessly repair it with 0 drawbacks so this is a decent median and whilst I can appreciate some enjoy having 0 durabilities, it adds a little extra and will keep you from just staying out and makes you have to prepare a little before bigger outings which I like. At the end of the day, tweak it as you see fit.
-Invasions: Has seemed fine so far, just remember that there are barriers in the game for a reason, albeit not that needed in lower-level zones.
-Mangrove is next which is across the water to the south-west of the Western Rainforest which introduces a lot more "aquatic life" and makes for pretty rough base locations, so it is not really recommended as a spot of operations, but there are some tablets to pick up here though for those adventurous enough.
-Next, we`ll continue heading west into the three zones that all have monsters and Barbarians of varying levels from 21-30+ in the Rocky Bottomland, The Wild and finally Pit Hill. These three places make for decent locations if you are looking to build either a second base and or maybe just an outpost?.
-From here we head North and into the Table Mountains where the level range is 30 - 40, however further to our west is a median zone and one of my recommended locations for your second base if you are 35 and closing in on 40 as the weather is very temperamental and it gets pretty chilly, so you`ll want to have access to the Air Heater(Awareness 40) but you WILL make due if you have level 2 Cold mod on the clothing for your tribesmen to stave of the cold. The zone in question is called the Lakeside Forest(26-35) and west of that is also the Jungle Cave which is a poisonous hellscape with Poison dart frogs, scorpions and other creepy crawlies but also the best place for Iron Ore. The Lakeside Fores also houses the Flint Tribe Fortress, where the levels go up to 50+, so not recommended to go in if you`re lowleveled here as they will turn you into a pincushion very quickly but it`s an excellent place to gather good crafters and labourers later in the game.
-North of the Table Mountain is the Plateau Woodland, sharing a level range of 31-40, I have not explored it a lot but it seems like a rather boring locale for a base, but it holds a dungeon where you need Awareness 40 to enter, so it`s worth exploring once you hit that threshold, just make sure you come WELL prepared.
-We continue our adventure north into the Giant Wood Forest and Great Prairie and honestly, I am considering making a base on the Prairie as it`s beautiful and full of life but some of the enemies here are terrifying, so I won't go there unless I have the resources to make barriers around the entire base first.
-We are now going into the last of the northern regions and reaching the initial level cap of 50 in the Southern Wasteland where we are now dealing with enemies in the 41-50 bracket, sometimes even above. Don`t consider this a base location unless you are ready to deal with the radiation but it`s a cool locale with very varied flora and fauna. You will also find the Fang tribe has it`s Fortress in this area, so it`s definitely worth the adventure.
-Now you are more or less getting towards the end of your journey but if you look at the map, there`s a lot of fog west of the desert as well as the far south of the Jungle Cave and The Wild where we went earlier in our adventure. First is the Volcanic Forest 41-50, which is due southwest of the Wild, followed by the Barren Meadow 41-50+ just South of the Jungle Cave and finally the Scorching Volcano in the bottom left of the map with a whooping 46-55 level range and let me tell you. Unless you have Heat protection here, you will die in seconds the closer you get to the Volcano and you can in fact get inside the volcano as it has an expansive underground system to explore.
-The last zone is the Dark Fores, Frostleaf Grove, Frost Canyon and Alpine Land all of which are as of yet, unexplored by myself, but perhaps someone else can offer some insight about these areas for us?.
-This should help you find your preferred Barbarians to deter, but keep in mind that nothing is final as there is still a lot of RNG involved and getting the perfect barbarian is still something that we`ll all be chasing for a long time, but best of luck to you all.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE AWARDS and SHARES.
Please, if you have anything you would like to be added to it then this is the place, let's make our own little lexicon for those who come after.
submitted by KokoHekumatiaru to PlaySoulMask [link] [comments]
With that out of the way, welcome to my No-BullS#$t guide to Soulmask, outlining everything I`ve learned in 80 hours playing on a server rented from G-Portal.
I am going to assume that everyone is somewhat accustomed to the bare basics of the game and how it plays so I will stick to only highlighting things that I learned myself.
1 There are 5 Tribes: Claw, Flint, Fang, Outcasts and Plunderers.
-Everyone can be deterred except Plunderers and Elites (The ones with a unique name and a silver border around their health bar).-The Claw tribe has the best overall fighters for every weapon school
-The Fang tribe specializes in Remedies, healing and Poisons (Alchemy) so they make for great Alchemists overall, but do very well in relation to ranged combat so make for decent companions, if you prefer having a ranged helper along, they are good for this.
-The Flint tribe are supposedly the clever ones who are all about evolving and furthering their tribe's development so naturally, they make for great crafters.
-The outcasts don`t belong to any tribes and their stats as such are completely random. You can find great ones of course but expect a lower chance of finding what you need, compared to if you were chasing the more specialized tribes.
2 Proficiencies of barbarians go from 1-125+ in each respective school and what they have is based on a lot of factors as well as the low chance of them being a uniquely titled barbarian that can give them various perks outside of the proficiencies themselves.
-The level of the deterred barbarian ONLY affects what the overall proficiencies start at when you deter them and the higher the level the better the proficiency, the level also affect their attributes.-Source: Personal experience after deterring roughly 800 Barbarians and while I know the pool isn`t very big, but it is high enough for me to be positive that the level of a deterred barb does not affect their max proficiency level, only what it starts at.
-Labourers are great at the collection of materials: Logging, Mining, Harvesting
-Craftsmen: Any crafting, completely random which ones they are given. Also supposed to unlock various tribes medium/advanced clothing and costumes if they are found in a fortress(Only 3 fortresses at the minute.) Potentially bugged right now though as I`ve deterred 50+ Craftsmen of varying levels from Novice to Master Craftsmen in a Flint fortress with 0 unlocks as of yet).
-Porters: Good at working the Kiln and or Furnace but they are also Great at transporting large quantities of items over longer distances as their weight limits are different and they have positive traits that affect how having more weight makes them move faster etc. (Unlocks the first tribe clothing too. Level 20-25 area barracks)
-Well-made DOCs sheet showing the various difference between the tribes as well as the Perks and Traits people have discovered thus far. Thank you to fatheals for sharing it with us, albeit I do not know the owner and creator of the sheet so if anyone knows and can share that with us, I`d like to add them as well.
Tribe Differences
That`s it for now, if there`s anything else you want to know, just ask in the comments and I will add it to the guide too. But these are some of the things I see being asked the most, so instead of commenting in each post and repeating myself, I will update this one with new info.
3 Mysterious Tisane, dropped by bosses will reset the attributes of your main aka the Vagrant Novice character, but the Mysterious body shaping pill will reset the attributes of any of your deterred tribesmen.
-I have been informed there is a server setting that changes this, letting you reset the attributes of your deterred tribesmen much earlier in the game, effectively making the Mysterious body shaping pill a completely irrelevant addition to the game, so the choice is yours. Make the game easier earlier and or play it the way it`s "meant" to be played. Whatever the choice, as long as you are comfortable and happy with it, that`s all that matters.4 The Basic Portal that you can craft yourself will not let you teleport to unlocked teleporters, only to other basic teleporters. (Please for the love of god change this.)
Is important to note that you can only teleport with whatever is currently on your action/hotbar and it will not bring anything in your inventory when using this discount portal they`ve provided us with unless you turn on Custom Supply Portal in the right-hand Menu in the server settings.5 Cooking is one of the most important proficiencies in the world of Soulmask.
-I would highly recommend you get someone who`s good at it and put points towards output when selecting bonuses as they improve.-You can have 7 different buffs active at any one time. 3 Meals, 2 Drinks, 1 Medical and 1 "unhealthy" one in the Cigar. Types of buffs: Staple Food, Recreational, Beverage, Vegetable/Fruit, Meat, Medical Potion and finally a Cigar.
Thank you u/fatheals & u/tadian for the info.
6 Armor & Weapon crafting
-For traits, select Durability for 30-60 respectively and then Quality once you hit Iron as this is the point where levelling starts to slow down and moreover, you will unlock the Sabre tooth Armor at Awareness 40 once you kill the Berserk Sabre-toothed Predator which is a recommendation to everyone and when crafting the gear it will inherit the stats of the Iron Armor that goes into it. Hence you want to make sure it`s as good as possible as this will be the best Armor you will have access to for quite a while.7 Modifications make a huge difference
-All these mods you keep looting in chests from barracks and dungeons are not useless, even if the numbers may seem small they make a massive difference so use them.-Having multiple Armor sets with different mods on them will be a benefit, even though it is grindy. Having one with Heat, Cold, Poison and Radiation protection will be the difference between surviving or dyeing.
-Repairing a Weapon or Armor WILL remove the MOD that is on them, so keep this in mind. Repair first, then put on the mod of choice.
-IMPORTANT: You can in fact have EVERY single mod that fits in each respective category on a single piece of Armor, this includes but is not limited to every resistance for example: Poisonproof, chill proof, heat proof and so on.
8 The hunting Gallery is VERY useful.
-It will show a lot of useful info about the local wildlife and enemies you encounter so I recommend having a look if you are struggling with a specific enemy, perhaps you`re just using the wrong weapon to fight it?.-One good example of when it helped me was in my first Ancient Ruin Dungeon/Holy Ruin where I encountered an enemy type that took essentially 0 damage until I threw a Corrosion bomb on them so use it and you will find that while doing the classic Unga Bunga works, sometimes. Having a bit more tact does come in handy.
8 Farms inside Barracks & Fortresses
-These farms are incredible if you are looking to get resources for either food and even crafting by way of cotton, needed for a lot of various crafts. What is important to note here is that these farms, IF you empty them out, leave and return at a later time, the crops may actually change. The availability of what they can change into, seem to be dependent on what you find in the chests within the Barracks and or Fortress. In the Flint Tribe fortress, I have collected everything except for Cactus out of their farms.9 Unlocking Tribe Costumes and Armor
-The first three sets can be unlocked by Deterring the Porters in each respective low-level barrack.-The higher tiered ones can be acquired by deterring craftsmen from Fortresses, albeit. I have yet to unlock a single one, even after numerous deters and full tames, so this might be something that the devs will need to look into, so if you`ve been chasing it as well, know that you are not alone friend.
10 My Co-Op Server setting, aimed at smaller communities, only the options we`ve changed from their defaults.
-You can open the server settings by hitting the "tilde"-key next to the 1 on the Keyboard for QWERTY keyboards, followed by typing in: gm key "your admin password" and then hitting ENTER-Right-side options are all active besides Spawning monsters and barbarians whilst a player is inside a barrack. PVP, Friendly fire, Cross-Server and applying output multipliers to the special items.
-General: Barb Taming speed 2.5, Proportion of Daytime 0.8, Tribe recruitment limit 100, Mood increase 1.5, Mood Reduction 0.5, Personal animal Quantity 20. The chest drop level is special in that we tested this out, but changing it will bug certain chests, keeping them from respawning loot over time so we left it at 0.
-EXP & Growth: Awareness, character and mask is 3. Proficiency, Collection, Craft, Monster-Kill and Other Exp multipliers are all 2.5, Kill EXP sharing 1. Max awareness 60.
-Output & Drops are all set to 1.5, Crop growth, Crafting Speed. Chest Drop multiplier, Animal growth and hatching speed are all 2.
-Building: I turned off Building Decay because we hate that mechanic, but if I notice people stop playing I`ll turn it on to clear up the map.
-Refresh: Vegetation Respawn Speed 1
-Combat: Dmg against wildlife 1.3, Dmg from wildlife 0.7, Wildlife quality 2, not touched PVP.
-Consumption: Durability 0.5, Repair reduces the durability 0.2, I don`t want people to craft a single set of items and just endlessly repair it with 0 drawbacks so this is a decent median and whilst I can appreciate some enjoy having 0 durabilities, it adds a little extra and will keep you from just staying out and makes you have to prepare a little before bigger outings which I like. At the end of the day, tweak it as you see fit.
-Invasions: Has seemed fine so far, just remember that there are barriers in the game for a reason, albeit not that needed in lower-level zones.
11 Zone Progression by Level
-Eastern Rainforest, typically where you spawn in and start your journey, followed by the Western and Northern Rainforest, the last two zones scale from 10-25 with level 25 Mobs and Barbarians respectively can be found in the Barracks for tribes located there.-Mangrove is next which is across the water to the south-west of the Western Rainforest which introduces a lot more "aquatic life" and makes for pretty rough base locations, so it is not really recommended as a spot of operations, but there are some tablets to pick up here though for those adventurous enough.
-Next, we`ll continue heading west into the three zones that all have monsters and Barbarians of varying levels from 21-30+ in the Rocky Bottomland, The Wild and finally Pit Hill. These three places make for decent locations if you are looking to build either a second base and or maybe just an outpost?.
-From here we head North and into the Table Mountains where the level range is 30 - 40, however further to our west is a median zone and one of my recommended locations for your second base if you are 35 and closing in on 40 as the weather is very temperamental and it gets pretty chilly, so you`ll want to have access to the Air Heater(Awareness 40) but you WILL make due if you have level 2 Cold mod on the clothing for your tribesmen to stave of the cold. The zone in question is called the Lakeside Forest(26-35) and west of that is also the Jungle Cave which is a poisonous hellscape with Poison dart frogs, scorpions and other creepy crawlies but also the best place for Iron Ore. The Lakeside Fores also houses the Flint Tribe Fortress, where the levels go up to 50+, so not recommended to go in if you`re lowleveled here as they will turn you into a pincushion very quickly but it`s an excellent place to gather good crafters and labourers later in the game.
-North of the Table Mountain is the Plateau Woodland, sharing a level range of 31-40, I have not explored it a lot but it seems like a rather boring locale for a base, but it holds a dungeon where you need Awareness 40 to enter, so it`s worth exploring once you hit that threshold, just make sure you come WELL prepared.
-We continue our adventure north into the Giant Wood Forest and Great Prairie and honestly, I am considering making a base on the Prairie as it`s beautiful and full of life but some of the enemies here are terrifying, so I won't go there unless I have the resources to make barriers around the entire base first.
-We are now going into the last of the northern regions and reaching the initial level cap of 50 in the Southern Wasteland where we are now dealing with enemies in the 41-50 bracket, sometimes even above. Don`t consider this a base location unless you are ready to deal with the radiation but it`s a cool locale with very varied flora and fauna. You will also find the Fang tribe has it`s Fortress in this area, so it`s definitely worth the adventure.
-Now you are more or less getting towards the end of your journey but if you look at the map, there`s a lot of fog west of the desert as well as the far south of the Jungle Cave and The Wild where we went earlier in our adventure. First is the Volcanic Forest 41-50, which is due southwest of the Wild, followed by the Barren Meadow 41-50+ just South of the Jungle Cave and finally the Scorching Volcano in the bottom left of the map with a whooping 46-55 level range and let me tell you. Unless you have Heat protection here, you will die in seconds the closer you get to the Volcano and you can in fact get inside the volcano as it has an expansive underground system to explore.
-The last zone is the Dark Fores, Frostleaf Grove, Frost Canyon and Alpine Land all of which are as of yet, unexplored by myself, but perhaps someone else can offer some insight about these areas for us?.
12 How to determine if a Barbarian is worth deterring before engaging.
-Press "Y" to open up your Mase nodes tree. Once your Core Functional Module has been activated, continue going right till you reach Perception Enhancement and then the linked node called Quality Assessment. With this node repaired, you`ll be able to view more detailed information about both the Wildlife and the Barbarians, their titles and their potential are among some of the things you can see.-This should help you find your preferred Barbarians to deter, but keep in mind that nothing is final as there is still a lot of RNG involved and getting the perfect barbarian is still something that we`ll all be chasing for a long time, but best of luck to you all.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE AWARDS and SHARES.
Please, if you have anything you would like to be added to it then this is the place, let's make our own little lexicon for those who come after.
2024.06.09 11:20 Perkelton Weekly Crowdfunding Roundup: June 9 2024 29 ending soon (incl. Rebirth, Feudum) & 28 new this week (incl. Grimcoven, Return to the 7th Citadel)
What is this?
This is a weekly crowdfunding roundup of new projects launched last week and projects that end the coming week.Google Docs
As an alternative format, the lists are now also available as a Google Docs found here: Weekly Crowdfunding RoundupUpdates
Expect new lists every Sunday between 00:00 and 23:59 CEST on the following platforms:Mastodon: @danielpervan@mastodon.social
Discord: https://discord.gg/dN4P4PZcU9
Reddit: /boardgames
Selection criteria
The criteria for the lists are as follows:Ending soon
- Sorted by number of backers
- Kickstarter projects ending in the next 7 days, that have at least 100 backers (or marked as "Project we love" by Kickstarter), will have reached more than estimated 95% of their goal by their deadline and passed the filters:
- No DnD books
- No zines
- No 3D printing
- No dice sets
- No magazines
- No shirts
- No playmats
- No furniture
- No events
- Gamefound projects ending in the next 7 days, that will have reached more than estimated 95% of their goal by their deadline and passed the above filters.
- (beta) Backerkit Crowdfunding projects ending in the next 7 days, that will have reached more than estimated 95% of their goal by their deadline and have a matching BGG page.
Newly launched
- Sorted by number of backers
- Kickstarter projects launched in the last 7 days, that have had at least average 15 backers per day, have at least 100 backers or is marked as "Project we love" by Kickstarter and passed the filters (see above).
- Gamefound projects launched in the last 7 days and passed the filters (see above).
- (beta) Backerkit Crowdfunding projects launched in the last 7 days and have a matching BGG page.
Notable filtered projects
- Filtered projects from above lists that have more than 1000 backers.
Tags
🎉: Staff pick/featured💰: Funded
🔥: More than average 200 backers/day
🌱: Creator's first project
🌳: Creator's >5th project
🔄: Money back guarantee (Read more)
FAQ
I live in El SalvadoCanada/Colombia/USA, why are you posting on a Saturday?!Because I'm writing this from Europe in the future where it's already Sunday. Timezones be crazy.
Why are there a bunch of non-board games in the board game list?
Because the Tabletop games category on Kickstarter includes anything remotely related to board games and sometimes things slip through my filters.
Why is this future award winning board game and literal saviour of humanity missing from your list?
Sometimes my filters get a bit overzealous and discard actually valid projects. If you feel something is missing for this reason, leave a comment and I'll add it (maybe).
Can I donate all my money to you?
No
Can you help me promote my game?
Please no. I make lists. Nothing more.
Your list is full of errors and now I cnat spel amymor!
Indeed, this fine piece of code runs purely on single malt whisky, so anything can happen. Leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.
Ending soon (29)
| Name | Description | Backers | Pledged | Ends | Information | Tags | BGG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rebirth: Limited Edition | A brand new, tile-laying game from Reiner Knizia, set in a lush and hopeful future. | 5552 | €265,854.00 (1329%) in 19 days | 2024-06-12 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 45-60 min. | 🎉💰🔥🌳 | BGG |
| Feudum | Game-of-the-year winner, Feudum is back with the 7th anniversary collector's edition featuring an exclusive clockwork behemoth! Grrrrrrrrrr. | 2679 | $354,257.05 (1417%) in 26 days | 2024-06-14 | 💸 Gamefound 👥 1‑5 players ⏱️ 150 min. Area Control | 💰🌱 | |
| Hex Effects: A Spellbinding Card Game | Hex Effects is a “take that” card game that involves beautiful artwork and easy-to-pick-up gameplay. From the makers of Side Effects! | 1413 | $55,457.00 (462%) in 24 days | 2024-06-14 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑8 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 20-40 min. | 🎉💰 | BGG |
| How to Save a World | Three desperate plans. One small chance... to save a world. | 1216 | CA$114,038.00 (190%) in 19 days | 2024-06-13 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 60-90 min. | 🎉💰🌳 | BGG |
| Village Pillage: Big Box + New Expansion | Magic makes its way to Village Pillage in the fourth and final expansion to the critically acclaimed game! | 1090 | $60,172.00 (301%) in 19 days | 2024-06-15 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑5 players ⏱️ 15-30 min. | 💰🌳 | BGG |
| BERSERKERS : Chaos Extension by Alone Editions | Berserkers is Back ! | 972 | €26,872.00 (413%) in 24 days | ⚠️ 2024-06-09 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌳 | |
| Big Sur, Grand Central Skyport, Sand Art, & Wine Cellar | Mix and match your pledge from four new games across a variety of styles, themes, and player counts to elevate your next game night. | 893 | $42,936.00 (429%) in 12 days | 2024-06-14 | 💸 Kickstarter | 🎉💰🌳 | |
| 🍁 Masters of Maple Syrup & Downstream 🛶 | Manage a maple farm and explore the riverbank in these cozy, pocket-sized games for two! | 835 | CA$47,616.00 (595%) in 19 days | 2024-06-10 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰 | |
| Greenlight | A game for people who will never make it in Hollywood. | 829 | $45,269.00 (453%) in 33 days | 2024-06-10 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌱 | |
| Thorgal: The card game | Thorgal: Card Game, where strategy meets destiny in a thrilling card-based adventure | 761 | €40,864.00 (409%) in 19 days | 2024-06-11 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 45-90 min. | 💰 | BGG |
| The Big Bad Wolf | Based on The 3 Little Pigs! Secretly pass the "Big Bad Wolf" then Entice & Persuade players into flipping it, to Blow Down their house! | 570 | $12,768.00 (365%) in 26 days | 2024-06-13 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 15-35 min. | 🎉💰🌱 | BGG |
| Catstronauts: The Board Game | The cooperative boardgame based on the hit graphic novels! | 492 | $31,506.00 (630%) in 26 days | 2024-06-14 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑4 players 👶 8+ ⏱️ 30 min. | 💰🌳 | BGG |
| TOOTHEAD | Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!! Sneaky moves and a lot of fighting in an innocent setting. A family-friendly game, also great for parties! | 448 | €29,744.00 (372%) in 33 days | 2024-06-10 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑8 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 40-180 min. | 🎉💰🌱 | BGG |
| Amsterdam Board Game Design - season 1 | Three fun card games by different members of ABGD: Bable, Grachtenpand, & TimeZoo. May this be the first season of many! | 419 | €11,900.00 (397%) in 27 days | 2024-06-13 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌱 | |
| Guns of the Old West | Players compete in solo/co-op play or as a team with over 100 campaign paths. Each playthrough is a unique cinematic experience offering endless replayability. Players make strategic decisions and interact with each other to achieve their group and secret individual objectives, some of which involve… | 299 | £53,400.50 (107%) in 26 days | 2024-06-11 | 💸 Gamefound 👥 1‑8 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 45-90 min. Card Game Wargame Dice Game Area Control Cooperative | 💰🌱 | BGG |
| DVG - Mustang Leader | The WWII Air War Over Europe Solitaire Game! | 284 | $54,294.00 (271%) in 19 days | 2024-06-12 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌳 | |
| GotchaCards: a rock-paper-scissors card game! | a thrilling RPS dueling card game for all ages by Pat Casao & pabloKM | 278 | $15,972.00 (86%) in 31 days | 2024-06-15 | 💸 Kickstarter | 🌱 | |
| EXPENDABLE EMPLOYEES | A Cooperative Miniature Skirmish-Extraction Game Inspired by Lethal Company, Content Warning & Helldivers 2! | 269 | CA$6,390.00 (256%) in 24 days | 2024-06-15 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌳 | |
| Dabba Walla | The famous Dabba Walla invite everyone to join them on their daily journey through Mumbai! | 250 | $14,400.00 (288%) in 5 days | 2024-06-13 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 8+ ⏱️ 30-45 min. | 🎉💰🌳 | BGG |
| The Thinning Veil Cormac Mac Airt on the Other Side of Midnight | A solo dungeon crawl now featuring a 2 player mode set in the world of The Thinning Veil, and featuring Cormac Mac Airt, High King of Inis Fael! This game is the first in the Thinning Veil line and the Cormac series. | 243 | £34,126.74 (1706%) in 26 days | 2024-06-11 | 💸 Gamefound 👥 1‑2 players ⏱️ 90 min. Dice Game | 💰 | |
| Freak War: A Card Game | A fun and simple pick-up-and-play card game—with unhinged rules and a hidden layer of intense strategy. | 227 | $15,544.00 (155%) in 26 days | 2024-06-13 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 6+ ⏱️ 15-60 min. | 🎉💰 | BGG |
| Dice Tales: Knight's Adventures | Become mighty Knight, live exciting adventures in this solo sandbox print and play roll and write board game with a dose of strategy. | 226 | €3,030.00 (3030%) in 10 days | 2024-06-13 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 1 player 👶 10+ ⏱️ 20-30 min. | 💰🌱 | BGG |
| One Hour World War II | A fast playing game of all of World War II for 2 players. Actions and Reactions drive the game. Plays in....wait for it.....1 hour. | 224 | $20,955.00 (1080%) in 8 days | 2024-06-15 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌳 | |
| The 7 Seas: A New Start | Embark on a thrilling adventure in the world of The 7 Seas. Explore, trade, and fight to become a legend! | 218 | €20,600.20 (206%) in 24 days | ⚠️ 2024-06-09 | 💸 Gamefound 👥 1‑5 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 30-90 min. | 💰 | BGG |
| The Dream of Gods: An Interactive Mystery Game | Speak with gods. Solve puzzles. Uncover secrets. An interactive mystery book with audio, puzzles and visuals. | 201 | €12,151.00 (608%) in 25 days | 2024-06-14 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌱 | |
| Of Popes & Plagues | The Game of Plague & Pestilence in the Middle Ages | 183 | $7,890.00 (158%) in 33 days | ⚠️ 2024-06-09 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑6 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 20-60 min. | 💰🌱 | BGG |
| Scare BnB - Spooky family fun for all ages! | Help guests flee from a Bed and Breakfast run by monsters! | 142 | $2,938.00 (94%) in 19 days | 2024-06-11 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 5+ ⏱️ 15-30 min. | 🌱 | BGG |
| El Camino de Belén (The Journey to Bethlehem) | The game that brings families together. Up to 4 teams, the first to get to Bethlehem wins! The game comes in English and Spanish. | 111 | $10,384.00 (103%) in 30 days | ⚠️ 2024-06-09 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰 | |
| WARLINE x Dragons War | Design the battlefield. Design your army. Design custom tactics. Craft your own path to victory in this sandbox fantasy warfare game. Now, Warline's head-to-head "Strategicraft" gameplay is bolstered with the new solo or cooperative army-versus-dragon expansion—Dragons War. | 99 | $10,085.15 (81%) in 10 days | 2024-06-16 | 💸 Gamefound 👥 1‑4 players ⏱️ 45 min. Wargame Cooperative |
New this week (28)
| Name | Description | Backers | Pledged | Ends | Information | Tags | BGG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grimcoven | Discover our new boss battler game for 1-4 players, set in a dark Victorian universe where only the hunt matters. In the unique tactical gameplay of Grimcoven, you take up the role of a hunter fueled by Lament. | 9366 | $1,795,810.67 (3592%) in 3 days | 2024-06-27 | 💸 Gamefound 👥 1‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 90-270 min. Cooperative | 💰🔥🌳 | BGG |
| RETURN TO THE 7th CITADEL. Explore, build, YOU are the hero! | Get ready for new adventures in the Collapsing Lands! 1000+ minutes of exploration and adventure for 1 to 4 slave-gardeners. | 8031 | €837,720.00 (1077%) in 5 days | 2024-06-19 | 💸 Kickstarter | 🎉💰🔥 | |
| 🧁 Apothebakery - The Culinary Alchemists | Forage resources, brew elixirs and bake cakes of salvation to heal adventurers on the brink of doom in this game for 1 – 4 players. | 3870 | £286,958.00 (820%) in 5 days | 2024-06-28 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 60-90 min. | 🎉💰🔥🌱 | BGG |
| Mythic Battles: Isfet | Explore Ancient Egypt or Norse Mythology, commanding gods, heroes, monsters and troops in this 2-4 player skirmish adventure game! | 3288 | €627,108.00 (314%) in 5 days | 2024-06-21 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 60-90 min. | 🎉💰🔥🌳 | BGG |
| Mine Turtle: It’s a blast! | An explosive game of truth or dare. | 2655 | £98,122.00 (981%) in 6 days | 2024-07-03 | 💸 Kickstarter | 🎉💰🔥 | |
| Secret Villages & Santa's Workshop (+Related Story Puzzles!) | The first expansion to Merchants of the Dark Road, plus a deluxe edition of Santa's Workshop and our first two story-driven puzzles! | 2289 | $146,525.00 (488%) in 5 days | 2024-06-22 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🔥🌳 | |
| Agemonia Reprint + New Heroes! | From the publisher of Eclipse, a fully co-operative board game with challenging moral choices, set in an epic campaign for 1-4 players! | 1924 | €161,398.00 (461%) in 5 days | 2024-06-21 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑4 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 60-120 min. | 🎉💰🔥 | BGG |
| Yokai Septet Pocket Edition | Fan favorite trick-taking game is back with a smaller footprint and an official inclusion of 2-player mode! | 945 | $15,535.00 (518%) in 5 days | 2024-06-21 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌳 | |
| Port Royal | A Miniature Skirmish Game set in the Searover's Caribbean | 558 | $72,324.00 (482%) in 4 days | 2024-07-05 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌳 | |
| Pillars of Heracles - Awaken the Legends! | Lead your city-state through a monumental adventure in Ancient Greece in this epic civilization board game for 1-4 players. | 517 | $42,151.00 (211%) in 5 days | 2024-06-24 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 90-120 min. | 💰 | BGG |
| Imperfect Crimes: Pop-Up Escape Book | Solve an immersive, 3D PopUp Book crime escape game. Find clues, solve puzzles and explore each crime scene filled with hidden secrets. | 463 | €44,896.00 (180%) in 4 days | 2024-07-08 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌳 | |
| Operation Barclay | Operation Barclay is a two-player game of low/medium complexity about the intelligence war between the Allies and their Abwehr counterparts in the Mediterranean theater in 1942-1943. | 461 | €15,244.85 (191%) in 3 days | 2024-07-04 | 💸 Gamefound 👥 2 players 👶 10+ ⏱️ 25-40 min. Card Game | 💰🌳 | BGG |
| 2GM Tactics 🔥 France & Total War | 2GM Tactics series expansions. Fight in World War II! And become the best General. | 368 | €20,878.00 (418%) in 5 days | 2024-06-28 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌳 | |
| Fluffy Dragons | A bluffing game, where you'll use the force of the elements to fight your Fluffiest enemies to collect the most gems! | 357 | $16,827.00 (224%) in 5 days | 2024-06-29 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌱 | |
| Bunny Boom | Bunny Boom is a strategic game of bunny infestation! Manage actions, place cards, and pass the bunnies to your opponents to end the game with the fewest bunnies! 🐰💥 | 310 | CA$28,728.43 (144%) in 5 days | 2024-06-27 | 💸 Gamefound 👥 2‑4 players 👶 12+ ⏱️ 15-45 min. Card Game | 💰 | BGG |
| Cyberpunk RED: Combat Zone™ - RePrint and Vehicle MAYHEM | An introduction of vehicles to the Combat Zone featuring the Zetatech Herakles, sleek cyber-bikes, and more! | 310 | $83,971.00 (280%) in 4 days | 2024-06-28 | 💸 Kickstarter | 🎉💰🌳 | |
| Clash - D-Day Special edition | Get ready for an immersive World War II experience, during the D-Day landings in Normandy, 1944. 'Clash - D-Day Special edition' is an accessible, turn-based, tile-laying board game for 2 players. You and your opponent will have to fight for every beachhead to win this war. This special 80th commem… | 308 | €25,105.99 (279%) in 6 days | 2024-07-03 | 💸 Gamefound 👥 2 players ⏱️ 45 min. Wargame Area Control | 💰🌱 | |
| The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow for Liminal Horror | The Parthenogenesis of Hungry Hollow is a sandbox investigation for Liminal Horror. | 285 | $12,340.00 (123%) in 5 days | 2024-07-05 | 💸 Backerkit | 💰 | |
| Dabba Walla | The famous Dabba Walla invite everyone to join them on their daily journey through Mumbai! | 250 | $14,400.00 (288%) in 5 days | 2024-06-13 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 8+ ⏱️ 30-45 min. | 🎉💰🌳 | BGG |
| CASSETTE DUNGEONS! | A compact rogue-like dungeon crawl board game through a realm of metal and madness packed in a cassette tape case! | 196 | $2,955.00 (197%) in 6 days | 2024-07-03 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 1 player 👶 13+ ⏱️ 5-45 min. | 💰🌱 | BGG |
| X: Seekers of Fortune | An Action-Packed Adventure Card Game | Hunt for lost relics and legendary sites while performing heroic feats to outfox your rivals in this tcg-like strategy card game. | 191 | $12,328.00 (123%) in 5 days | 2024-07-01 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 2‑4 players 👶 14+ ⏱️ 20-40 min. | 🎉💰🌱 | BGG |
| NAWALLI: The Aztec Card Game (Second Edition) | A strategic lane battle game based on Aztec mythology - become a Nawalli Sorcerer summoning Nawals and Spells to dominate the Arena! | 129 | $8,198.00 (410%) in 3 days | 2024-07-06 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰 | |
| Paw of Duty | Command a kitty squad to regain control of a war-torn city. | 102 | $2,832.00 (189%) in 5 days | 2024-07-04 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌱 | |
| TomeBound | The Game of Strategic Sorcery | 77 | $4,686.00 (134%) in 2 days | 2024-07-07 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🌱 | |
| Order of the Day: Normandy | A boardgame of the D-Day invasion, June 6, 1944, playable by inexperienced or veteran boardgamers. | 60 | $2,744.00 (62%) in 3 days | 2024-07-06 | 💸 Kickstarter 👥 1‑2 players 👶 12+ ⏱️ 45-120 min. | 🌳 | BGG |
| Wrestling Cubes | A unique abstract strategy game about pinning your opponent's cubes. | 51 | $2,102.00 (42%) in 2 days | 2024-07-07 | 💸 Kickstarter | ||
| Fantasy Adventure Game LIGHT AND DARKNESS | Embark on a journey full of dangers, random locations, random encounters, watch out for traps, hunt animals, heal the sick, pay for services, trade. Enter the darkness and explore ruins, caves, or undergrounds. Keep your team in mind and meet their basic needs of thirst, craving, and sleep. | 19 | PLN 5,227.50 (7%) in 6 days | 2024-08-03 | 💸 Gamefound 👥 1‑3 players ⏱️ 180 min. | 🌱 | |
| Top Line Hockey | A fast paced table top hockey game that fits on a piece of paper. | 18 | $605.00 (151%) in 1 days | 2024-07-08 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰 |
Notable filtered projects (4)
| Name | Description | Backers | Pledged | Ends | Information | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC20 | The Next Great Evolution in Fantasy TTRPGs: A Fresh System with Epic Combat, Intuitive Gameplay, and Characters as Unique as Your Group | 10643 | $1,109,228.00 (5546%) in 5 days | 2024-07-02 | 💸 Kickstarter | 🎉💰🔥 |
| Blade Runner RPG: Replicant Rebellion & Asset Pack | Fight back against Replicant oppression in this major expansion to the award-winning BLADE RUNNER RPG from Free League Publishing. | 4134 | SEK 3,612,769.00 (1445%) in 12 days | 2024-06-13 | 💸 Kickstarter | 🎉💰🔥🌳 |
| Mörderin by John Blanche | John Blanche presents a new range of 32mm grimdark femmes miniatures based upon his artwork. | 1733 | £53,911.00 (2696%) in 4 days | 2024-06-12 | 💸 Kickstarter | 💰🔥🌱 |
| Mörk Borg Action Figure w/ Zine by Stockholm Kartell | Dread Risen - A fully articulated Mörk Borg Action Figure w/ Zine by Johan and Pelle of Stockholm Kartell | 1199 | $104,799.00 (210%) in 40 days | 2024-06-11 | 💸 Kickstarter | 🎉💰🌳 |
2024.06.09 11:14 meitsadavdavidbingss The ultimate deepwoken rant
First off sorry for any spelling errors , i am typeing this on a whim and dont have time to go thru again , i know english i promise . Well where do i even begin with this mess , first lets get roblox jank , gliches , bugs and cheat detection out the way sience thats not up to them . The moderation team fucking sucks at doing their job , if you submit a ticket with proof and all theres about a 90% chance they will decline you without looking at it but its ok , i can deal with that , the biggestthey also abuse their powers (especially in chmie) going in with all kind of unobtainable weapons and enchants , imo that is not ok not to mention those weapons and enchants are absolutely busted , they should be balanced accordingly and made obtainable and while im at it i would like to mention not being able to get lightborn is some real bs , i wish they would maybe hold a tournament between the top 20 chime players that dont have lb or something weekly so that theres an actual way to get it if you work hard , that would be sick but no , they cant spare 30 minutes a week to do something like this for us . And regarding races why the fuck is there no way to reroll races without useing robux ? Like lemme reroll with echos or knowledge at a shrine or something , anything , and also the races are not balanced accordingly and matter very little , they should have tallents that actually change combat , like etreans are suposed to be imune to acid , well thats not the case cuz they cant properly code , they are also meant to get less time on buffs and debuffs , thats also not the case . If it was however for example that would be very cool , you could pull some fun stuff with poison , ignore charm debuffs , not need strong stern or mayne run into a pocket of acid when low but no cause we cant have nice shit can we? And now regarding slots i fullheartedly believe they should give you 3 or maybe even 5 starting out , i guess you can buy them and they are dirt cheap but i still feel like its a very greedy move seen as you need a minimum of 3 to you know , actually play. With revives i also have no problem except that you cant revive without robux . Like maybe let me ask yun shul to give me another shot in fragments and i can use statue for free , or maybe when u max rep with celtor , or for 500 echos , anything really . Some more boring stuff out the way , the activities like fishing mineing and choping trees have no point as the rewards are not worth the time at all , characters are 1 dimensional and only serve to die or give you something for the sake of progressing plot , the world feels dead , the ai is trash and theres way too much chesse . Balance i wont even commeont on , you know it , i know it , its absolute dogshit and thats not gonna change , they claim to revisit the broken stuff and want to rework it ? Yeah right just like you did to jetstriker , i mean its not bad its much better than before but they missed the silver lineing , fighting jetstriker sucked not only because the opponent could run away , it sucked cuz he could just keep you at mid range , use gale and thunder to poke you down with little counterplay if you are not a mage silentheart or blindseer , guess what ? Thats still a problem . The weapons are extremely unballanced as well and so are the atunements mantras and enchants equipment and everything else , if they cared to fix it it would take well over a month of actual daily balance changes not the bullshit they are doing now . Pvp is curently in a 1 shot meta , chime , guildwars , voidwalking , doesent matter the fight always ends in less than 30 seconds thanks to chesse , the infamous ragdoll into bomb that has no counteplay , potions and assassin builds (dont get me wrong im an assassin build enthusiast myself but they are FAR too busted in this game like wtf) . Pve is boring too , everything is eighter easy or unfair , its all easy except for the ocasional stat sponge like a kyrsgarde gangbang or broodlord that do over 1 bar per hit and have as much hp as duke . Theres nothing fun to do except combat , the world feels dead and so very lackluster and boring , the lore sucks sience its not expanded on , altough a great concept . Now lets talk about vw , as a vw myself i dont think it should take a life when the voidwalker kills you , like you die and lose your stuff but you dont get stained for example , but i dont think it should be the same for when you kill the vw sience then he could just level without consequence , vw should also not be able to take bounties on ppl with more than 3 level diffrence up or down and shouldnt be allowed to do to1 , instead their first 5 bounties give 2 levels each if successful , and they should also get like a damage taken from mobs multiplier till max lvl so that you get dettured from pve , that would be great. also i think u should be able to get the tracking outline beep ocasionally on all bounties , not just voidwalk , like do a quest for it and then get it on the slot .that would not make it go to origin , now regarding origins they all have little going for them atm theres no reason to not pick deluvian for pve and vw for anything else . Also we need more goddamn origins like some that start in layer 2 at lvl 10 and you need to kill chaser or start fort merit at lvl 6 or start in voidsea , meteor isle , hive , stuff like that would be so sick but no instead we get ysleys pyre that has 5 crits and 2 passives that all have the special effect of makeing you want to kill yourself . I could talk about so many more issues like no new luminant , no layer 3 for 2 years or no more lore being dropped but ass of now if they could fix all of this by the end of the year i would be ecstatic and truly greatful , its seems they cant and wont learn , they are leting the flame of this game burn out just like they did to rogue a good bit ago . All it needs is a litlle kindeling wich given how much money they have and how many talented pepole wouldnt turn them down should take them a mere 2 months if even that , but then again ragoozer and archmage dont give a shit. Also we love you naktigonis , your music is unreal.
submitted by meitsadavdavidbingss to deepwoken [link] [comments]
2024.06.09 10:02 DMPetee Druid is Wack
Druid is finally here after the test server and there were a lot of changes, some good, bad, and ugly.
I think it's not really a point of contention that Druid is very overtuned right now, but I think it breaks some of DaD's gameplay fundamentals.
Good
submitted by DMPetee to DarkAndDarker [link] [comments]
I think it's not really a point of contention that Druid is very overtuned right now, but I think it breaks some of DaD's gameplay fundamentals.
Good
- The shape-shifting scales now. Test server damage of shape-shifting was pretty much equivalent to punching. Hopefully demonform gets the same treatment. You should be looking to build strength or agi, regardless of spell casting.
- Shape-shifting abilities are relatively balanced. Each form's niche ability has some use and interacts well within each form's kit.
- The spells are diverse, and besides a couple spells, they are mostly balanced. The versatility is pretty high for the class as both a caster and melee character.
- A lot of skill expression through spell casting and balancing shape-shifting. Very engaging gameplay.
- Scaling on the shape-shifting is way too overtuned. Bears can hit for 300+ damage with 200hp and 50%pdr. They are clunky, which can be a rightful downside, but has a weird upside. You can 180 as an enemy swings and they will do limb damage as they hit your giant ass. Panther can hit move cap and deal massive damage. Even the chicken can hit for over 100 if you stack enough resourcefulness.
- Entangled vines and treant are busted. Vines last way too long and can change the tide of a fight in an instant, and you have 4 charges. In duos and trios, it's a no-brainer to use this and a free kill a lot of the time. Treants are a bit too damaging or tanky depending on how you look at it. I don't think it's as powerful as vines, but still very strong.
- Despite nerfing dark reflection, thorns is back for some reason despite feedback on the test server on complaints about DR on live.
- Instant shape-shifting is very overpowered, will get into more next line.
- Rat fundamentally breaks the game. You can get into areas of the map that are not intended, very exploitable, and I'm surprised it even got added after the test server. If it weren't for Druid's lack of ranged, they'd be absolutely dominating across the board.
- Instant shape-shifting breaks the flow of combat, fights feel silly and literally feels like a game of cat and mouse, but not in a fun way. Compared to the past, it feels like the most drastically different combat change, and that can be good or bad depending on your perspective, but it feels off as you try to kill this shape-shifting juggling hooligan. If you aren't getting one shot in HR, your dealing with shape-shifting spam in norms. Juggling between rat/human/beapanther. Druids pretty much have access to sprint with panther, and savage roar with bear in an instant is another way of putting it too, with no downsides when used correctly, they are very bloated in terms of power creep.
- Overall clunkiness of the shape-shifting should be addressed at some point and probably will.
2024.06.09 08:07 Beneficial-Ad-2418 F2P/Demo Bombing Best Thing To Happen To This Game
This F2P/Demo thing is the best problem to ever happen to this game. I have never witnessed this amount of cope from a gaming community in my entire life, like holy s...
This way, IM might even thought of that, people will always blame the F2P problem for the reason why the game has bad reviews and not its horrible gameplay. It protects it from the harsh truth, of why most people left this game. All these thousands of players bought the game, they had no F2P problems. Why did they leave if the game is sooooo good and not boring at all?!
The most annoying part of this dilemma is, that this community thinks the game will be received positively outside of the F2P/Demo dilemma. You are in the MINORITY if you think this game is amazing. People like SpudHunter will always say good things about the game, while complaining about it every 2 seconds. Because he NEEDS this game to pop-off. Mofo probably hasn't watched his own VoDs, where he was constantly stating how you can't out-skill people. You don't need to be a psychology major to see this either, if someone truly likes a game or likes the fact it tripples the audience numbers = money earned. He is a Quake player, you can't tell me this amount of low level of skill requirement ticks his box. The game is BORING if you come from a background of true skill, I don't care what he sais, it is all about the audience numbers.
This game had a player base, and people went away because it got super boring, on top of balancing issues. The ranked system and its focus on loot ruined the entire game too. Top 100 Ranger here, it was 0 fun from start to finish but I wanted to prove it to myself before I quit for other games.
People just left the game in thousands because it was too good and they needed a break from the crazy levels of dopamine this game provided with its super engaging PvE system of run in, run out, hit.
Did I mention how amazing the Cylops boss with its falling stones is? That is peak game design right there, how can anyone quit this game. This game truly deserved fantastic reviews on Steam, but only the F2P wording got in its way, what a shame. It would definitely not have been rated negatively at all, it is that good. This game doesn't deserve bad ratings at all. Someone should challenge that streamer to go into Detail why he thinks this is so good, and have him talk about the bad stuff too. Let us see if you are honest enough to realize, that the negatives of the game outweigh the positives as of this moment, but we are surprised the game got negative reviews as if that wasn't 100% going to happen anyway. See you in the dungeon boys.
The biggest content creator in this game just went into GTA RP because he couldn't handle the immense fun he had playing this game. He needed a break from how good the game is. The more you play this game, the more it gets boring.
On a side note, now as the Steam bag is being collected: how long will it take to sell the game development to someone else ;)
submitted by Beneficial-Ad-2418 to DarkAndDarker [link] [comments]
This way, IM might even thought of that, people will always blame the F2P problem for the reason why the game has bad reviews and not its horrible gameplay. It protects it from the harsh truth, of why most people left this game. All these thousands of players bought the game, they had no F2P problems. Why did they leave if the game is sooooo good and not boring at all?!
The most annoying part of this dilemma is, that this community thinks the game will be received positively outside of the F2P/Demo dilemma. You are in the MINORITY if you think this game is amazing. People like SpudHunter will always say good things about the game, while complaining about it every 2 seconds. Because he NEEDS this game to pop-off. Mofo probably hasn't watched his own VoDs, where he was constantly stating how you can't out-skill people. You don't need to be a psychology major to see this either, if someone truly likes a game or likes the fact it tripples the audience numbers = money earned. He is a Quake player, you can't tell me this amount of low level of skill requirement ticks his box. The game is BORING if you come from a background of true skill, I don't care what he sais, it is all about the audience numbers.
This game had a player base, and people went away because it got super boring, on top of balancing issues. The ranked system and its focus on loot ruined the entire game too. Top 100 Ranger here, it was 0 fun from start to finish but I wanted to prove it to myself before I quit for other games.
- Sitting on the floor for minutes to cast 2-3 spells is crazy.
- This should at least get trippled in speed, it is not like you can sit in a corner mid-fight. Or, even better, get replaced by a cooldown system where your spells recover at a medium rate as long as you are out of combat automatically. Focus should be fun gameplay, not tedious realism in a fantasy game rofl.
- HP-Pools of mobs are way too high. Headshotting a normal-level skeleton takes literally 6 hits into the head.
- Boss HP is fine. Everything else should get a severe hit. 3 headshots to kill that same skeleton would increase the PvP engagement, and decrease the tedious levels of boring PvE.
- What? The game is hard? Bait attack -> move away -> move in for hit -> repeat - Yeah, really hard. No brother, repeating this mind-numbing sequence 6 times to kill an enemy which will guarantee not drop anything worthwhile is not respecting the players' time, it drives me nuts. You are literally losing brain cells in this game with how the PvE is designed. 90% of the mobs are dealt with the same pattern, drop nothing and take way too long to kill.
- Decrease HP pools of mobs drastically. Bosses, and sub-bosses are fine, but a stupid ice skeleton shouldn't tank nearly as much. If these mobs need to waste so much of my time, I need them to carry good loot occasionally.
- Yes, faster mob kill times will increase the risk of 3rd party fights. Killing 3 skeletons with 2 headshots each, is WAY MORE FUN than 1 skeleton with 6. Increase numbers then, but decrease their life.
- Decrease HP pools of mobs drastically. Bosses, and sub-bosses are fine, but a stupid ice skeleton shouldn't tank nearly as much. If these mobs need to waste so much of my time, I need them to carry good loot occasionally.
- Why is all the crazy good loot tunneled into bosses? Why can't you get lucky and find a unique sword on a table, or on one of these damage-sponge zombies/skeletons? Just so "WOW MOMENTS" happen out of nowhere. It is fun to be surprised. Knowing nothing will drop, but you have to kill that skeleton is boring. I had EMPTY bags until I went into hell, because it wasn't even worth looting the stupid chests most of the time. This is NOT fun.
- Add small percentages on mobs and loot locations, where you can get something crazy with a very low chance for that to happen. These dungeons are full of enemies, nobody went down there and survived. There should 100% be treasures to be found outside of boss rooms or key doors. Those should simply have a higher chance to drop, not be the only source for it.
- We don't need 10000 maps, we need combat mechanics so we can have some level of skill expression
- Nothing more to say. Add parrying, blocking to more stuff so people can have epic fights. Don't go Mordhau levels, but get inspired by those games, do something...
- How about get some weight into the movement system? People change directions instantly. People in full plates literally put their crosshairs back and touch the floor with their backs while moving at the same time.
- Speaks for itself. There is no reason for any character to go down into limbo stance and come back up. Wtf is this. This is a projectile-based game, and the models couldn't juke more stupidly.
People just left the game in thousands because it was too good and they needed a break from the crazy levels of dopamine this game provided with its super engaging PvE system of run in, run out, hit.
Did I mention how amazing the Cylops boss with its falling stones is? That is peak game design right there, how can anyone quit this game. This game truly deserved fantastic reviews on Steam, but only the F2P wording got in its way, what a shame. It would definitely not have been rated negatively at all, it is that good. This game doesn't deserve bad ratings at all. Someone should challenge that streamer to go into Detail why he thinks this is so good, and have him talk about the bad stuff too. Let us see if you are honest enough to realize, that the negatives of the game outweigh the positives as of this moment, but we are surprised the game got negative reviews as if that wasn't 100% going to happen anyway. See you in the dungeon boys.
The biggest content creator in this game just went into GTA RP because he couldn't handle the immense fun he had playing this game. He needed a break from how good the game is. The more you play this game, the more it gets boring.
On a side note, now as the Steam bag is being collected: how long will it take to sell the game development to someone else ;)
2024.06.09 06:35 Outbreak101 "The BoomSlang" A Poison/Bleed build for PVE and PVP.
"The BoomSlang, one of the most venomous snakes in the planet. It's unique hemotoxin venom will cause its victim to bleed profusely to such a degree that the victim will die drowning in their own blood. It is a mercy that the snake is relatively shy and will generally avoid humans. But mercy is for the weak, and to the gladiators of the Arena, all is fair in the art of War."
RL 150 Build
Here we have a Dex/Arc build that works to capitalize on 2 major status effects while still dishing out good damage even to those resistant to Poison and Bleed.
Weapons
Blood Venomous Fangs +25:
The Venomous Fangs are a particular claw weapon that builds up a special kind of poison called Deadly Poison. Deadly Poison is special in that it does a more concentrated form of damage than that of regular poison, but has a shorter duration than regular poison. We can actually use this to our advantage, because it increases the damage uptime we can maintain with our Talisman and our helmet for this build.
We go with the blood infusion rather than the occult one due to the blood infusion adding bleed buildup on top of the poison. While Occult would normally give us more upfront damage through Arcane and more poison buildup, Occult will not allow for the build to take advantage of the Lord of Blood Exultation, which will end up coming out to less overall damage if we add in all buffs compared to that of the Blood Variant.
We use Endure for our Ash of War because it is genuinely busted with the Claw/Fist Archetype. The poise buff and the defense buff combined with the attack speed of our weapon allows us to go to town and not get staggered in the process.
(NECESSARY) Armor
Mushroom Crown/White Mask: 10% extra damage boost if near the presence of Poison/Blood Loss for 20 seconds respectively. Either helmet can work to your benefit, feel free to adjust the helmet as necessary based on the boss' resistances though (White Mask would be better against Malenia for instance, as she is more resistant to Poison than bleed).
All other armor pieces don't matter. You can go with a higher poise focused build, more physical negation, or simply fashion. I personally like going with fashion in this instance so I generally veer towards the rotten Gravekeeper set to stay in line with the lore of this particular character.
Talismans
Lord of Blood's Exultation: 20% Damage boost when near Blood Loss proc (12% in PVP) for 20 Seconds.
Absolute necessity, it shouldn't be understated how powerful this talisman is for any build utilizing bleed. You can insta-proc this effect with Seppuku if you wish.
Kindred of Rot's Exultation: 20% Damage boost when near Poison Effect for 20 Seconds.
For a Poison Build, you definitely will want this in your arsenal. While this isn't as consistent as Lord of Blood's exultation since it procs once per Poison hit, it is still a very powerful buff in its own right. You can proc this yourself by throwing your own feces at your opponents, humiliating them as an extra benefit.
Milicent's Prosthesis: Gain 5 Dex and increase your damage based on Successive attacks (4%, 6%, and 11%).
Biggest negative is that you have to kill Milicent if you want to maximize this build to its utmost. Since we are a Dex/Arc build, the 5 dexterity is a huge bonus to give to our character, and the following successive attacks buff is a substantial damage buff that will prove to be exceptionally useful for those resistant to our status effects. MILICENT'S DOES STACK WITH THE WINGED SWORD INSIGNIAS
Rotten Winged Sword Insignia Raises Attack Power for Successive attacks (6%, 8%, and 13%) (NG+, See Note)
Winged Sword Insignia: Raises Attack Power for Successive Attacks (3%, 5%, and 10%)
These particular talismans are a no-brainer for a build that strikes as quickly as the venmous fangs do. These also help greatly when dealing with resistant enemies as we will still do good damage without the poison or bleed.
NOTE: Because the Rotten Winged doesn't stack with the Winged Sword Insignia and we want to stack the successive attacks as much as possible, it is better that you get Milicent's Prosthesis for NG instead of NG+. It does mean we are killing Milicent which does kinda suck but yeah...
SPELLS:
FGMS (Flame, Grant Me Strength): Increases Damage by 20% for 30 Seconds.
Golden Vow: Increases Damage by 15% and all damage Negation by 10% for 80 Seconds
NOTE Golden Vow can only be cast when using the Faith-Knot tear in order to make the requirement to cast the spell. Drink the tear prior to casting this.
TEARS
Thorny Cracked Tear: Increases Consecutive Damage by (9%, 13%, and 20%) for 3 minutes.
Self-explanatory for Venomous fangs build. Always drink the Tear before a boss.
Faith-Knot Tear: Increases the Faith Stat by 10 for 3 Minutes
To be able to use Golden Vow. Nuff Said on that front, Golden Vow is busted on all fronts.
Stats
Feel free to adjust these as necessary. The way these stats are done is mainly to allow for good damage while still maintaining high survivability. If you want to go for more damage with this build, you can pump more dex if necessary.
With that being said.
60 VIG
16 MIND: Mainly to use Golden Vow, FGMS, and Endure without needing to flask. 100 FP means we can use at least 2 Endures before needing to flask.
30 END: This is a very stamina-hungry build. Get as much as you can without saccing damage, it can also benefit you with giving you some better armor if you want to get more poise benefit.
16 STR: This uses Hero Start. Even so, the strength does help your fists do a bit more damage, but not much admittedly.
40 DEX: You can bump this up more if you want to sac some of the other attributes. This gets bumped up to 45 with the use of the Milicent's prosthesis, which will help your damage a bit. Most of your damage will be coming off of your talisman procs, so your dex isn't as much of a big deal.
If you are too uncomfortable with it, feel free to take out some of the END or even VIG if you don't mind getting checked if you want.
Base INT
15 Faith: to hit the breakpoint for use of the Golden Vow with Faith-Knot tear.
45 Arc: 45 is the softcap for our status buildups when we are using a Blood infused weapon. This gives us 107 on Blood Loss buildup and 87 on Poison Buildup, which should be plenty for what we are trying to do.
Feel free to adjust these stats to your personal preferences and enjoy bleeding your enemies internally with this poison setup :).
submitted by Outbreak101 to EldenRingBuilds [link] [comments]
RL 150 Build
Here we have a Dex/Arc build that works to capitalize on 2 major status effects while still dishing out good damage even to those resistant to Poison and Bleed.
Blood Venomous Fangs +25:
The Venomous Fangs are a particular claw weapon that builds up a special kind of poison called Deadly Poison. Deadly Poison is special in that it does a more concentrated form of damage than that of regular poison, but has a shorter duration than regular poison. We can actually use this to our advantage, because it increases the damage uptime we can maintain with our Talisman and our helmet for this build.
We go with the blood infusion rather than the occult one due to the blood infusion adding bleed buildup on top of the poison. While Occult would normally give us more upfront damage through Arcane and more poison buildup, Occult will not allow for the build to take advantage of the Lord of Blood Exultation, which will end up coming out to less overall damage if we add in all buffs compared to that of the Blood Variant.
We use Endure for our Ash of War because it is genuinely busted with the Claw/Fist Archetype. The poise buff and the defense buff combined with the attack speed of our weapon allows us to go to town and not get staggered in the process.
Mushroom Crown/White Mask: 10% extra damage boost if near the presence of Poison/Blood Loss for 20 seconds respectively. Either helmet can work to your benefit, feel free to adjust the helmet as necessary based on the boss' resistances though (White Mask would be better against Malenia for instance, as she is more resistant to Poison than bleed).
All other armor pieces don't matter. You can go with a higher poise focused build, more physical negation, or simply fashion. I personally like going with fashion in this instance so I generally veer towards the rotten Gravekeeper set to stay in line with the lore of this particular character.
Lord of Blood's Exultation: 20% Damage boost when near Blood Loss proc (12% in PVP) for 20 Seconds.
Absolute necessity, it shouldn't be understated how powerful this talisman is for any build utilizing bleed. You can insta-proc this effect with Seppuku if you wish.
Kindred of Rot's Exultation: 20% Damage boost when near Poison Effect for 20 Seconds.
For a Poison Build, you definitely will want this in your arsenal. While this isn't as consistent as Lord of Blood's exultation since it procs once per Poison hit, it is still a very powerful buff in its own right. You can proc this yourself by throwing your own feces at your opponents, humiliating them as an extra benefit.
Milicent's Prosthesis: Gain 5 Dex and increase your damage based on Successive attacks (4%, 6%, and 11%).
Biggest negative is that you have to kill Milicent if you want to maximize this build to its utmost. Since we are a Dex/Arc build, the 5 dexterity is a huge bonus to give to our character, and the following successive attacks buff is a substantial damage buff that will prove to be exceptionally useful for those resistant to our status effects. MILICENT'S DOES STACK WITH THE WINGED SWORD INSIGNIAS
Rotten Winged Sword Insignia Raises Attack Power for Successive attacks (6%, 8%, and 13%) (NG+, See Note)
Winged Sword Insignia: Raises Attack Power for Successive Attacks (3%, 5%, and 10%)
These particular talismans are a no-brainer for a build that strikes as quickly as the venmous fangs do. These also help greatly when dealing with resistant enemies as we will still do good damage without the poison or bleed.
NOTE: Because the Rotten Winged doesn't stack with the Winged Sword Insignia and we want to stack the successive attacks as much as possible, it is better that you get Milicent's Prosthesis for NG instead of NG+. It does mean we are killing Milicent which does kinda suck but yeah...
FGMS (Flame, Grant Me Strength): Increases Damage by 20% for 30 Seconds.
Golden Vow: Increases Damage by 15% and all damage Negation by 10% for 80 Seconds
NOTE Golden Vow can only be cast when using the Faith-Knot tear in order to make the requirement to cast the spell. Drink the tear prior to casting this.
Thorny Cracked Tear: Increases Consecutive Damage by (9%, 13%, and 20%) for 3 minutes.
Self-explanatory for Venomous fangs build. Always drink the Tear before a boss.
Faith-Knot Tear: Increases the Faith Stat by 10 for 3 Minutes
To be able to use Golden Vow. Nuff Said on that front, Golden Vow is busted on all fronts.
Feel free to adjust these as necessary. The way these stats are done is mainly to allow for good damage while still maintaining high survivability. If you want to go for more damage with this build, you can pump more dex if necessary.
With that being said.
60 VIG
16 MIND: Mainly to use Golden Vow, FGMS, and Endure without needing to flask. 100 FP means we can use at least 2 Endures before needing to flask.
30 END: This is a very stamina-hungry build. Get as much as you can without saccing damage, it can also benefit you with giving you some better armor if you want to get more poise benefit.
16 STR: This uses Hero Start. Even so, the strength does help your fists do a bit more damage, but not much admittedly.
40 DEX: You can bump this up more if you want to sac some of the other attributes. This gets bumped up to 45 with the use of the Milicent's prosthesis, which will help your damage a bit. Most of your damage will be coming off of your talisman procs, so your dex isn't as much of a big deal.
If you are too uncomfortable with it, feel free to take out some of the END or even VIG if you don't mind getting checked if you want.
Base INT
15 Faith: to hit the breakpoint for use of the Golden Vow with Faith-Knot tear.
45 Arc: 45 is the softcap for our status buildups when we are using a Blood infused weapon. This gives us 107 on Blood Loss buildup and 87 on Poison Buildup, which should be plenty for what we are trying to do.
Feel free to adjust these stats to your personal preferences and enjoy bleeding your enemies internally with this poison setup :).
2024.06.09 05:03 thug_waffle47 Giving Wyll a try and found a build i’d like to go with, am I missing anything?
so i actually just found this comment on a post here that seems easy enough for me to follow just wanted to check if there’s anything missing as far as items or things i should do with Wyll in my party. thanks :)
—
My opinion:
Go first 4 levels Warlock. ASI into Charisma. After that, 8 levels of Sorcerer.
Use Potent Robes, Agonizing Blast, and any charisma bonuses you can find (Mirror, Hat, etc).
I prefer the lightning charge staff.
2nd ASI into Charisma to cap at 20. Last ASI into Moderately Armored, use Ketherick’s shield for +1 spell attack and save DC.
You can quicken Eldritch blast + Eldritch blast for…(With Hex up)
6d10+(66 to 84 depending on Charisma)+6d6+Xlightning dmgX in 1 turn.
I’m also a big fan of, due to Eldritch Blasts splitting ability, using the Radiant Ring - I forget the name. The one that puts Radiant Light or whatever on any enemy you hit with a spell that gives them like -1AC and makes them radiate light or something. It’s actually a sick debuff and if you pop like 3-5 enemies you can debuff, do big dps, and light them all up for any reason it may help (Darkvision, hiding, etc)
It’s a total beast
submitted by thug_waffle47 to BG3Builds [link] [comments]
—
My opinion:
Go first 4 levels Warlock. ASI into Charisma. After that, 8 levels of Sorcerer.
Use Potent Robes, Agonizing Blast, and any charisma bonuses you can find (Mirror, Hat, etc).
I prefer the lightning charge staff.
2nd ASI into Charisma to cap at 20. Last ASI into Moderately Armored, use Ketherick’s shield for +1 spell attack and save DC.
You can quicken Eldritch blast + Eldritch blast for…(With Hex up)
6d10+(66 to 84 depending on Charisma)+6d6+Xlightning dmgX in 1 turn.
I’m also a big fan of, due to Eldritch Blasts splitting ability, using the Radiant Ring - I forget the name. The one that puts Radiant Light or whatever on any enemy you hit with a spell that gives them like -1AC and makes them radiate light or something. It’s actually a sick debuff and if you pop like 3-5 enemies you can debuff, do big dps, and light them all up for any reason it may help (Darkvision, hiding, etc)
It’s a total beast
2024.06.09 02:54 murder__poet Oops! I dropped my magic item! (Part 15) [Only one item but its over the top]
Was hoping for a clean 100 souls but have 75 instead. Maybe the last 25 can be filled with other DM's/Party's ideas/adventures. I like something unfinished, honestly.
There's some obvious influence/thievery from OSR heavy hitters in here but I've attempted to keep it at a minimum just to inch my way to a clean 75 since 100 is proving troublesome. And honestly I've forgotten where some of these stolen/restructured ideas have come from. Feel free to credit link any so others can know their great works.
(e.g. P. Stuart, D. Selle, Coins and Scrolls, Goblin Punch, Vivien Feasson, S. Princess, Z. Cox/B. Brown, B. Milton, L. Rejec, P. Nilsson)
I doubt all the aforementioned are present in this list but I just wanna cover bases and/or call out incredible minds and effort in the hobby who I've really enjoyed. Call out any unlisted if you please. Credit where credit is due.
Edit: Whoof, formatting again
Edit 2: Cant change some numeration here it seems. Sub-traits are counted as independent entries. Italicized and emboldened sub-traits to help differentiate.
The Stilletto of The Imperator Scum (Trident)
On an (un)natural 20, consume a soul randomly from the table activating its effect, removing it from the table permanently
On a (un)natural 1, the target dies immediately and is resurrected as an undead. Pores on its body explode with rapid growth fungus and it’s health, and spell slots if applicable, are restored to their maximums. Their soul then becomes one with The Stiletto and is added to the table.
Soul of the…:
submitted by murder__poet to osr [link] [comments]
There's some obvious influence/thievery from OSR heavy hitters in here but I've attempted to keep it at a minimum just to inch my way to a clean 75 since 100 is proving troublesome. And honestly I've forgotten where some of these stolen/restructured ideas have come from. Feel free to credit link any so others can know their great works.
(e.g. P. Stuart, D. Selle, Coins and Scrolls, Goblin Punch, Vivien Feasson, S. Princess, Z. Cox/B. Brown, B. Milton, L. Rejec, P. Nilsson)
I doubt all the aforementioned are present in this list but I just wanna cover bases and/or call out incredible minds and effort in the hobby who I've really enjoyed. Call out any unlisted if you please. Credit where credit is due.
Edit 2: Cant change some numeration here it seems. Sub-traits are counted as independent entries. Italicized and emboldened sub-traits to help differentiate.
On an (un)natural 20, consume a soul randomly from the table activating its effect, removing it from the table permanently
On a (un)natural 1, the target dies immediately and is resurrected as an undead. Pores on its body explode with rapid growth fungus and it’s health, and spell slots if applicable, are restored to their maximums. Their soul then becomes one with The Stiletto and is added to the table.
Soul of the…:
- Ardent Giant - +2d6 dmg. to your attacks towards the target. Change the weather to which you desire
- Befouler - target fucking stinks, if within 15ft Con. Sav 12 every round to keep from vomiting.
- Gnarled Oak - that target lives the life of a tree in an instant. Witnessing love of child and pet. They see the first kiss of young love with the tip of the blade within their trunk declaring theirs eternal. They bear the burden of parenthood, choked with a child’s swing. The same swing their groom or bride will swing on, in remembrance, decades later. A generation of someones else’s life wears on them in the span of seconds. T
- Take 1d4 dmg. from the blade
- -2 Wis. as the dog pisses on them (1min duration)
- 3d8 dmg. as their branches are cut for a treehouse
- They will fall asleep in winter temperatures unable to wake up
- As long as their corpse touches soil they will resurrect in unspecified time
- If the target is killed within a city (soil or not) they will die sobbing with such penetrating sobbing. Within a mile radius, it lowers all CHA and WIS scores within range by 2 for 24hrs.
- Devil - the target’s eyes wash with color and your reflection is upside down. They provide you a contract/offer that is too good to pass up. You literally can’t resist it but it’s also a really great deal. Other than the fact that your soul is lost at failure of completion. Unless the killing blow dealt to the Devil is holy damage, they arrive at The Nine Hells to bide their time before they continue their cursed bargains upon the mortal realm.
- Claviger - The target is compelled to open the nearest door. If not the door, then box/barrel, chest, bag, pocket. Consume their next action. If the object doesn't open, spend each preceding action until it does.
- Scion of the Slithering Soil - the target embodies the nameless soul of a god-fearing priest of Mi-Shao-Shur. Dedicated fully to Serpentine Ascension by committing acts of gratuitous depravity. They become a beacon for the resurrection of Mi-Shao-Shur by consuming their own flesh, restoring their health to its maximum. Revealing underneath their now-true serpentine forms. Their intelligence increases by 4 and from their mouths can cast the Poison Spray cantrip. The target can now communicate with nearby creatures and convince them to do their bidding.
- Exploding Toad - target explodes. Dex Sav 13 or take 5d6 fire dmg.
- Dwarf - target becomes one. Genderless. Immune to all compulsions that play on a desire for sex. No sexual organs. Instead of urinating you excrete waste through sweating, explaining the odor.
- Tahlia - the target’s soul becomes trapped on the most worthless item on their person that isn’t a weapon or armor. Their body begins to thrash and scream mindlessly. Bodies are full of life and feelings but suffer the penultimate separation anxiety from the soul. The terrified shell will attempt to consume the item worth most to someone nearby with supernatural capacity. If they do so, your item is lost forever and the target becomes whole once more, restoring full health.
- PorteBasin Filler - Nothing satiates the target’s desire to serve, will seek out more and more challenging tasks for such a talented valet
- Abhorrer - target is unable to be targeted with any malice. The hate within you boils still but physically you are unable to be anything but be cordial and polite to the target. The creature knows every law and obeys them. It will use the law (if there is any) to destroy you.
- Cannibal Critic - target is no longer able to communicate in normal language. Of their cursed race the target can only howl bestial war cries of generic criticism. And hastily consume flesh. Successfully answering a question can cause the target to pause and grunt in reflection before screaming another random question.
- WHAT’S THE MESSAGE
- WHAT DOES IT MEAN
- IS IT IRONIC
- IS IT KITSCH
- DON’T YOU FIND IT PROBLEMATIC
- Dragonborn - If the dmg. dealt is to a non-dragonborn creature then the creature takes dmg. from their innate breath weapon, held within glands of which no non-dragonborn is prepared. 6d6 acid and poison dmg as their insides boil with draconic bile.
- Gargoyle - FUCK BIIIIIRRRRRRRRDSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Duergar - roll a d2 to Enlarge/Reduce target. Acquire sensitivity to sunlight regardless.
- Untermensch - the target’s muscles atrophy and their mind begins to falter as all of their ability scores reduce to 8. If one of their scores is less than 8 it does not rise to 8. Apply a -2 mod. to every dice rolled. The only thing of which they can be relied upon is to either fail or clumsily execute every task.
- Drow - target adheres to a woman’s word almost unwillingly and acquires sensitivity to sunlight. Incessantly mutters consequence for someone under their breath for whom they despise.
- Githzerai - target casts Plane Shift unwittingly on self.
- Bedlam Bird - The target knows when it is being looked at. The target loses all alliances and registers as “Evil” to spells and senses that detect such. It is compelled to commit pranks that are utterly fucked.
- Wizard - Your weapon moves through the air at your exact command. Gains Antimagic Susceptibility. Lasts 2 min.
- Azer - The target’s head ignites, it’s skull a torchlight shining bright light in a 15ft radius and dim light for an additional 10ft. It cannot be put out with water. The target takes 1d8 per round for 3 rounds.
- Banshee - the target casts Wail. All within 30 ft. (including target) Con sav 13 or drop to 0 HP. On a success 3d6 psychic dmg. After the Wail, the target goes mute as their vocal cords are stretched to leather and can only emit a poor whine if exhaustion.
- Androsphinx - The target’s body explodes and from within erupts a Heroes’ Feast. The depleted carcass turning into a gorgeous royal table spread.
- Basilisk - Bestowed upon the target is a basilisk’s Petrifying Gaze.
- Revenant - The target will rise as a Revenant 48 hrs after it’s death for the one who killed it.
- Cat - The target has to be killed 8 more times.
- Eigengrau - The target loses all memories from the last 24 hours
- Zoanthrop - Target strips naked. Immune to all mind altering effects.
- Wizard Hunter - Do you cast spells? You’re FUCKED.
- Wild Magic Sorcerer - Roll 3 times on the Wild Magic table. All within 60ft radius are affected by the wild magic emanating from the target
- Unseen Servant - Target turns invisible. Acts upon every command you give to it flawlessly. Limited only by its ability scores (they don’t change). Loses ability to speak or think for itself. Will not be around whenever you wake up from your next period of sleep.
- Nabassu - target acquires a soul stealing gaze, anyone to look at the target must make a DC 16 Cha saving throw or reduce its maximum hit points by 13 permanently
- Giant Squid - the target, upon this successful attack and when panicked or fleeing, squirts copious amounts of ink from their eyes, nose and mouth. Mixed with blood because that’s not supposed to happen, 1d8 dmg. with each use
- Werewolf - the target shreds their outer layer of skin revealing blood soaked fur underneath, taking the form of a werewolf and using a werewolf’s stats, with their skin they also shed any physical and mental conditions
- Gazer - the target gains the Gazer’s ability to mimic any simple sounds of speech in any language, with the target’s weak eyes it casts Dazing Ray and Fear Ray on itself and collapses into a depressive slump on the floor, screaming in fear in the last voice it heard, unable to flee
- Virgin - the target becomes the crucial object in the ritual of the nearest carnal, gluttonous, murderous or heretical cult for their petty god, monster or demon of chosen worship. What will their death summon?
- Nupperibo - the target acquires an insatiable hunger consuming any organic material within reach and easy enough to chew if no living opponent is within 30 ft. If the target attacks or is attacked by a living mortal then it can track that opponent flawlessly as it hungers for its flesh. Greater meals or death will cause it to leave you alone
- Phoenix - the target explodes and each creature within 60ft must make a DC20 dex save, taking 4d10 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. The explosion destroys the target's body and leaves behind an egg shaped cinder that weighs 5 pounds. The cinder is lukewarm seeing as the target isn’t an actual phoenix. It is not immune to anything seeing as the target isn’t an actual phoenix. After 1d6 days, it hatches into an infant of whatever race the target was.
- Oblex - target becomes amorphous if it isn’t already. Unfamiliar with it’s new form the target slumps into a pile of ooze unable to move, eat or breathe.
- Gauth - the target begins to float into the air uncontrollably. With fewer eyes than the Gauth the target is blessed with only Pushing Ray and Sleep Ray, both of which it casts on itself, as it floats snoring into the clouds
- Bullywug - the target becomes so repulsive that nature itself will reward you for its demise. If or when the target is killed you are healed to your maximum and your Con. increases by 1. It will be difficult though, because the target can talk to frogs and loves lording their power over you and has absolutely no shame. They immediately give themselves a shitty title that means nothing and will love talking about how every swamp ever is theirs to rule. Oh and they fucking reek, if you get within 10ft you’ll vomit automatically and uncontrollably
- Hivemind - the target’s spinal cord vibrates and emits pheromones to call any swarming creatures (rats, insects, birds, etc.) nearby into a frenzy causing them to fall into chaotic bloodlust and whomever the target chooses
- Modron - the target loses all mercy and remorse and will fight for their current objective even putting their own lives at risk. The target becomes immune to mind-affecting, emotion-affecting, and magic that draws upon the Positive Energy or the Negative Energy plane. You could quell its pursuit if something with 4 sides or more was able to give orders for it to stop.
- Obliviax - you must make a con. save (DC 12) or else the target eats your memory of the last 24hrs and heals for d20+4 health. If you fail, you also lose 1 spell slot if you have one to lose and forget 1 spell randomly, if you know any, each for 24 hours. If you save they still heal as all they have to eat are things that you know but forgot you knew, like that play you really liked that one time
- Strandvaskaren - the target is infected with the soul of one who drowned at sea but the waters preserved him in the inch worm gap between life and death and they float neither alive nor dead. The target feels heavy, cold, lungs weak, aware but able to move. The pressure of uncharted waters sits heavy on their chest and their strength is reduced by half rounded down.
- Impartial Anima - the target solely relies on a pair of wolf bone dice (or another pair of dice if those go missing) to tell them how to make decisions. 1-10 is a no or negative response. 11-20 is a yes or positive response.
- Adventuring Party - the target grows a magnificent mustache as steel armor sprouts from their skin and their hands glow with arcane magicks. Their pockets grow fat with religious symbols as a toddler’s diaper would when it’s stomach is upset. Or when it’s angry. Or even flirty. You sense a celestial presence hover over them as they grip their newly found sword and bow they are obviously skilled at using. You thought you had a fair amount of gold to possibly bribe them with but you realize you walk with a lighter step and at their feet your valuable currency lies in a burlap sack
- Seraphim - the target knows nothing but their own feelings and nothing worth nothing ever came out of a book. The only true things, now, are feelings. Anyone who attempts to attack it must save or hesitate in it’s presence. The environment around the target begins to convert into things beautiful and pure. Roll d4
- All metal within 50ft turns to gold
- The target bleeds from sacred stigmata and the blood turns to rose petals as it falls
- Grows wings and if already winged they are instead, actually, held aloft by a flock of doves
- They lose their clothing and double in size as their skin turns alabaster white and they wear only a ribbon
- Animated Barrel - the target attempts to grapple the nearest opponent and once successful begins to throw itself against walls, down stairs and out windows; enjoying the process. The target takes half damage while the opponent grappled takes double.
- Panther - the target speaks all languages and becomes evil (if not already), honorable and utterly merciless. Will chat up it’s victims or give them a head start before murdering them.
- Djinn - the target is imprisoned in the nearest vessel and must do their best to fulfill 3 requests for the one who frees them. They are given no additional power to accomplish this.
- Barnyard Chimera - the target's head bends backwards horrifically making room for it to grow the heads of a cow, pig and goat. It grows the tails of a goose that spews blinding shit. When killed it splits open, spilling out 3d6 featherless, bloody chickens with red eyes and sharp talons. It runs on malformed horse legs speaking but only repetitious mindless phrases. "How about that weather, huh?" "Well, let's finish up and then have supper." "Aw hell, she's coming out breech."
- Psychopomp - the target will become a guide/beacon for one of the hostile souls devoured by The Imperator Scum resurrecting it and freeing it from the trident.
- Bell Dragger - the target is imbued with the soul of a wronged martyr. Their eyes go sickly white and they walk on their hands and knees dragging them to bloody stumps. Solely focused on the path to the afterlife, they will forever crawl until they find it. But Bell Draggers are both the summoners and chariot horses for death’s arrival. She will arrive soon.
- Watch Lark - the target blooms a random amount of additional eyes all across their face above the nose. They can see through thick foliage and thin walls and all attacks have disadvantage on them as they always see you coming. Disadvantage against being blinded.
- Remorhaz - the target’s stomach bubbles a heated secretion that spills from their mouth. The heat from both their mouth and body is strong enough to melt any nonmagical metals. 2d20 dmg. for every turn spent within 5ft of them. The bile is useful to alchemists in making heat related magical items. The target also becomes highly resistant to magic.
- Arolohnso, Petty God of Labyrinths - the target using 3 fingers on each hand encircles themself drawing angular, snaking lines in the soil around them. Creating an elaborate maze of which they are the end. The borders drawn become invisible, impenetrable walls that protect them from all things but protect the target of their wrath from nothing. To reach the target, and make them vulnerable, you must draw a line through their maze solving it.
- White Lion - the target becomes a Queen/King of a fallen kingdom. No serfs nor servants to pretend to care for them. They’re safer now than they’ve ever been (at least from the dangers of someone else’s hands). Their name and legend and royal blood is all lost to a land that has no gods nor masters any longer. Roll for effect:
- They take their life as all of their worth was found in their property. Either by claw, royal dagger or casting themselves off a cliff or into the ocean, etc.
- Their crimes as Queen/King are unforgivable and heirs to the wronged will appear behind the target and murder them in cold blood
- The conquering challenger to their name/bloodline appears and disembowels them splashing you with their old, freshly-poor blood. They are an unpersuadable antagonist and the target is a pathetic remnants of a now dead kingdom
- You are the new Queen/King. To a country side, people and riches unknown. When you find your kingdom your blood will lead you to wine and fresh fruit. The throne will be warm for your arrival. The target feels their royal blood leave them and they become desperate to drink it fresh from your veins to maintain their deific right. Their hostility is doubled.
- The Whisperer - Trees whisper. The noise is low, tectonic, incomprehensible. Dial tone static bleeding through the vines of the deepest holts and groves. Spirits dance and gather around antler crowned gods who rule the brazen forest. Soft sounds bloom to life. Elves who hear this music sing to it wringing melodies from the resonances of the treesong. The target collapses into a sobbing heap. They are being wrung dry (poetically) from the beauty of the woodsong. When you’ve obtained comprehension of such extravagant, egoless harmonies what petty life squabble is worth donating your energy towards? The target cares not for your childish conflict any longer. They are possessed by the inability to remember the words to such an old song. One they recognize but do not remember. You can’t help them. They are no ally but no enemy. Pain cures all curses of the mind, though. Do not fetter them with continuing aggression lest you help them lose their place. If so, their hostility will quadruple.
- Brave Explorer - the target has a distaste for the beaten path. So much so that it is unable to repeat any action, starting from this effect, becoming more and more unpredictable over time.
- Leper - the target’s flesh becomes warped and scaly becoming an offense to your gaze. You can barely look upon them without vomiting on yourself. Unwilling to project your bile in any direction less it crosses your gaze once more. The Target gains expertise on stealth checks both active and passive. DC 14 Con save to resist puking at the sight of them. Once you succeed a check, remain immune to their image for 24 hrs.
- Antithetical Spirit - the target’s emotional attachment for the world and its inhabitants become reversed to their present disposition. Do they hate you? Now they love you. Do they want to kill you? Now they want to fuck you. Do they want to eliminate everything you love and make you watch? Now they will kill everything you love in tribute to your limitless beauty and knowledge. Careful how you treat people.
- Chadwick - the target is just...un-fucking-bearable to listen to. When they say your name it feels dirty afterwards and you just want to wash your parent’s mouths after the fact. They go on about bird calls as if they don’t have to take a breath to keep going. The target becomes an energy vampire and drains you of any optimism you have for the day and all you want is for this goon to go back to their home to watch the paint dry and not inform you of the oxygen reacting to the resin causing polymerisation of the paint leading to it’s lack of sheen once it’s settled. The rage in you is that equal to a Berserker and you gain the Frenzy trait. But you also suffer the effects of the Slow spell until you save on a Wis DC 15 at the start of your turn or kill the target.
- Johann Smiff - the target immediately becomes a stranger to you and anyone who can see them. Their face and identity are so familiar and on the tip of your tongue but sooner to become dismissed as deja vu then remembered. They know who they are. But they are a face in the crowd before anything else to you. The one you knew them to be still exists in your mind but it is certainly not the target. The effect will wear off after the next long rest.
- Bay Dolphin - saltwater, freshwater, the target can breathe in either and requires one or the other to do so at all. The target remains highly intelligent, as dolphins are, and retains it’s motor skills and muscle memory. The target will rush to find itself a suitable environment to be able to breathe once more, as a blowhole begins to peer open upon their scalp, but will be able to do so without panic for several minutes. Once they get into the water their constitution and dexterity both become 20 and they are immune to fear.
- Atticus Aurelius - the target is imbued with the soul of a famed gladiator from several eras passed. Skilled with any weapon as Atticus was, the target becomes proficient with all physical weapons (improvised or not). Able to command the applause of an audience at the drop of his helmet. If a crowd surrounds you (of any humanoid, undead/constructs or not) the target can command them to boo you and your allies causing you to suffer from the effects of Bane. Or they may cheer the target applying the effects of Bless. No saves. If the audience is unsatisfied at a poor showing or cheating habits their boos and riot will suppress you further applying the effects of Slow. Put on an absolute banger of a show with flourish and skill and their cheers will apply the effects of Haste. No saves.
- Jäegerjog - the target’s soul becomes the one born to die at your hand. Sewn into the never ending tapestry of time it is their fate to perish by your influence alone. They know it though you may not. They also know everything about you and they have advantage against you in every aspect as you suffer disadvantage in every reflective aspect. They also can’t be killed by anyone but you.
- Dracolich - the target becomes an unwilling phylactery of an ancient Dracolich. Watch the skies…
- Rook - the target and all who can see them become one within The Parliament. Each individual is now on trial and must provide a story to be judged by their peers. As the anecdotes unfold more and more blackbirds will arrive and encircle the lot of you to listen in. At the DM’s discretion the one who told the least captivating tale will be pecked to death by the encircling birds, and attacked by any affected N/PC, for 15d10 dmg before they flutter off. No save can be made less you reveal yourself as an outsider and ally yourself with the guilty. (WIS DC 14 for the most rebellious of you). Any shiny trinkets you can throw within the circle will decrease the DC by 1.
- Nymph - the target becomes a beacon of inequitable beauty. Their form becomes statuesque to each individual who gaze upon them. Their desire to fight dissipates and they become concerned only with judging others for their beauty. Weak in the knees to the target’s newly bestowed sex appeal, you unwillingly confess to them which part of yourself you hate the most. Confused by their Nymph aura, though they are none. Whoever they take pity on most reduces their CHA score by 1. The target then runs away, believing the mere presence of such filthy, struggling adventurers despoils their presence just by being near. The air of death and rot on you is more present than it’s ever been. You cannot help but stay on your knees as you watch them flee. You are free from their hold once they leave your sight.
- Übermensch - the target can perform any action perfectly with mathematical efficiency. Consider every one of their ability scores and rolls a 20 without the proficiency modifier. The target lacks heart and chaos in their soul from this point forward. They can execute all required of them perfectly. There is no surprise in their execution. They will always perform at maximum potential except in the dealings of art. They can be taught, certainly, but without thorough guidance all of their CHA rolls equate to zero regardless of modifiers.
- Star-Crossed Lover - a soul torn asunder, the target becomes one half of a harmonious pairing that will bring light and love into this world. A larger piece of the puzzle than you are at this moment. The union of the target and their mysterious lover are victims, but vital players, in a blood feud. Their death(s) will shift the tide in a grand conflict unseen...
- Woodland Eidolon - the target's eyes become ovaled and protrude subtly from their head as a nervous fawn’s would. Their skin molts and grows fine ivory hairs as they shiver and freeze. Unblinking. Shallow sharp breaths. A spirit of the woods stands before you and you have the span of a blink to claim your kill or else they are lost to legends told around the campfire once more. Their DEX Skill becomes 20 and all DEX checks and saves are criticals made with advantage. They can outrun your magical influence and know when you’re going to act before you do. But….if the stars are aligned and you land the killing blow (any successful attack is a killing blow)...their trophy will bring you gifts of which you only dreamed
- Antlers - netted in a spider’s web wet with morning dew, the glistening beads and weave act as a dream catcher for the most malicious nightmares protecting you from magical influence as you sleep
- Pelt - it warms you as a campfire would and as long as you are blanketed by it you are immune to cold and your health regenerates for 4 for every round of combat it’s equipped
- Horn - left lying in the dirt it is a sign of something terrible and conquering walking the grounds, an obelisk of bone that prevents predators and ambushes alike within a mile radius. But if you are caught carrying it you are seen as a dishonorable scavenger and your name will be besmirched within the wilds. The pheromones from it act as a subtle aphrodisiac amongst humanoids (not including undead/constructs) and you have prof. in CHA checks
- Scrimshaw - an ivory tusk from a Mother Walvis decorated with a sailor’s tale of his time on the seas. The carvings are half finished leaving most of the tusk bare. All stories have an ending and this sailor’s is now yours to tell. This tusk will bring you a boat when you have none. All you must do is find shore. It will also allow you to hold your breath for up to an hour.
- Broken Night - the target becomes bored by all they know well. Any extraordinary item they have on their person that they are well acquainted with will equal the value of trash immediately. If they know you well, then their pursuit of you, or risk thereof diminishes entirely. They will respond to threats accordingly but otherwise would prefer something strange and rare to busy themselves. Especially if it is of a teasing nature. If they hold something of interest to you then they are always willing to trade for a more interesting object. Or even a story perhaps.
- Neogi - A Neogi can smother a weak mind with some ease. The target’s mind becomes weak. Prey for any who have the ambition to use it for their own bidding until the body collapses. The target becomes cowardice prey. If so inclined, you’re welcome to impose your will upon them. Though so can everyone else. The blank-canvas-welcome of their mindscape has too much potential to pass up. Greedy minds can sniff out the glove-fit of their embryonic potential like a shark for blood. Who says no to a soft body that asks for it?
2024.06.09 01:26 CatherineL1031 The Calm Before the Storm [Catherine the Witch Lorepost Part 5]
![The Calm Before the Storm [Catherine the Witch Lorepost Part 5]](https://preview.redd.it/cedoj9dimf5d1.jpeg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=d92f170bff408bd4df24e5753bc089d9934f2d2e "The Calm Before the Storm [Catherine the Witch Lorepost Part 5]") | Hello there again, my Arcane and magical colleagues. Once again I am here to interrupt your scrying with a continuation of my life. Those who read, thank you for your time, I know I tend to ramble when I start talking, but it means a lot that I get to confess my previous sins in a safe place. submitted by CatherineL1031 to wizardposting [link] [comments] After murdering and dissolving the Goradel bloodline and stealing their entire workforce, I wanted to drive home the point that this was revenge from the hells coming back to bite them in the ass. As the manor collapsed into a pile of cinder and kindling, my hands started to glow as I shaped the flames into a skull. “The blood of Goradel has been dissolved. The hells cheer as they welcome the newest occupants for all eternity!” I turned back into my kitty cat disguise as people stared at the laughing fire skull, even putting some soot onto my fur to give the impression I had just run out of the place and was lucky to survive. I ran through some nearby flames to make it even more believable. I bolted the gathering crowd with a terrified meow, rolling into a puddle. I felt so gross, but I had to cover my tracks as much as possible. What's worse is one of the village kids saw me and tried to approach me to help. She looked so sweet and just wanted to help, but I had to play the part of “scared and terrified animal”, so I had to hiss and swat at her as she approached. She seemed so brokenhearted, but I again had to hiss and book it away as fast as I could. I ran into the forest, and once I was out of eyeshot, returned to my normal form. I smelled so absolutely horrible, but whatever, at least no one would expect me of anything! I pulled the last teleportation scroll from my hat, drew the final rune with my finger, and teleported back home. Once I was gone, the skull and flames disappeared from the burning kindle. Not only did no one suspect a thing, but now the blame could be pushed onto the hells quite easily. They saw a creature from the hell's attack and a skull just like the one from before, who else could have done that besides someone from the hells? Hehehehe… Once I returned home, I gave Mona a kiss and started crying. I informed her of the situation that had happened with my leaving. I decided to tell her the ‘truth’ of where I had been, admitting that I had actually gone to the Goradel house for revenge and that revenge came in the form of stealing their servants and fucking up their garden, but that soon after I started burning the garden the manor was attacked! I told her about the bird, and the skull, and she held me close. You know, looking back on it, I really was becoming a monster…Mona and I were engaged at this point- Oh, shit, that’s right, I forgot to say. Mona and I had gotten very close as roommates, and that relationship elevated to girlfriends after our first year of knowing each other. She proposed to me a few months back, and I happily said yes. Regardless, we were engaged, and I had just told her a lie of this magnitude. We told each other small little lies as all couples did, “No no that dress is so cute”, “I can’t even tell you spilled something on that skirt”, “Of course I don’t mind if your brother stays with us a few days, family is important!” Your standard relationship lies. But this…I was a murderer, and now I was telling her I was a victim and letting her love me to comfort me! Gods…I truly didn’t deserve her… Word spread quickly of their death, and even more quickly that the hell’s had been the ones to do such a thing. Even in our town we were quick to learn the news, I think it had been a few weeks and someone informed us. I had done really well to hide my tracks, nobody even thought to suspect sweet Catherine Louise. To the outside world, I was still the witch who helped her townsfolk and occasionally protected them with her partner Mona. The servants were shocked to hear their old employers had been killed, and were just so grateful to me that I had saved them from a fiery fate…and I told them it was no trouble, that I’m just lucky they left when they did… Don’t be like me at this time. If you’re like this now, maybe get some help, because this is not the kind of person you want to be in life, I really hope. Life at Mardul Castle started to improve once our helpers got to work. They were quick to get a feel for things such as duties, who would be living where, what was expected of them and all that stuff. Even more impressive, our town was really coming to be quite the town! Before we knew it, Mona and I had officially been granted the title of Ladies of Mardul. We were ‘nobles’ in a way, but really it was just a title to us. It felt very, very strange being granted such a title. Mona’s dad was a barkeeper, and my parents (gods rest their souls) worked manual labor and as a cleric. Neither of us had any noble blood in us, or had butlers, footmen and maids. It was a pretty big adjustment for us, especially having to call Mona by her full name when we were in polite company. I had always called her Mona or Emerald (Emmy for short), cause she was beautiful like an emerald, and she always called me Cookie because I loved baking for her. So, going from our pet names to “Ah yes, this is my wife, Lady Desdamona Torres of Mardul, and I am Lady Catherine Louise of Mardul” was so weird.As the years started to pass, Mona and I became a bit more involved in the higher society of things. We would visit other towns to spend time with the lords and ladies and try to find allies in case we needed help with anything, we were invited to elegant balls and soirees to eat, drink and dance with others of the upper class. Most of them were very kind, and I could tell they deserved their titles. I know it’s easy to hate on Nobles and Royalty, but there truly are some wonderful people in there. However, there was always the standout from the crowd… We met many truly awful people who clearly were like the Goradel’s, coasting on their blood and using it as an excuse to treat others so horribly simply because they viewed themselves as superior. I think one of the worst was Torence Maris, he and his fucking asshole son…you don’t invite someone to dinner, and then try to seduce their wife while discussing plans! I almost killed that man when I saw Mona return almost in tears and say ‘we’re going, now’. Gods, my poor Emmy cried so hard that night… Well, that part of me that desired to punish those who did wrong had started to come back again. Thankfully, it was not near as bad as it was years prior, but I did want to cause them some kind of pain or grief. This time, however, I cleared it with my wife and let her know my plans. She told me it was a bad idea, and that getting caught could be very damaging to our city’s image, but I told her not to worry as I was going to be in an entirely different form. She didn’t want to admit it, but I saw the little smile on her face as I listed off the names of the assholes I was going to be fucking with. I told her that I was not planning to cause them any bodily harm, just harm to their property, maybe even do like I did with the Goradel’s and steal their best workers. I promised to cause no bodily harm to them, and gave her a kiss as I started to work out my plans. My plans were much simpler this time, and having multiple people to collaborate with my story made it even easier to cover my tracks. I would inform Mona and my lady's maid, Jezebel, of who I planned to ‘visit’ that night and the two of them would cover for me should anyone show up seeking information on my wearabouts. Was it the most noble thing to lie so I could do what I wanted and face less consequences, potentially even causing two unrelated people to join in my potential arrest and conviction? No, and as stated MANY TIMES BEFORE, this does not make what I did right. I am not a hero or arbiter of justice, I am just one mortal who was starting to become drunk with power. But, regardless, I began my misguided quest for revenge against people I didn’t like. I started with Torence, and knew I needed to be smart about what I did. He had just harassed my wife, so if anyone was going to point fingers, he would have an easy reason. So, I started very small. I took on a monstrous form, either that of one of the many wyverns I had cut apart and studied, the Hell Cobra, or the Nightmare Corvid. It started simply enough, roaming the forests of their estate at night, causing people and animals to panic as I let out nightmarish noises to keep them up. Once they were sufficiently worked up, phase two of the plan took effect. I would watch them from their yard, and just stare. Nothing is more terrifying than seeing a 30 foot tall bird just staring at you from the front of your grounds, and then when you call someone to help it’s just gone. Finally, I’d start harassing them. I would swoop down at them or chase them when they were outside, I would damage their windows with rocks or branches, or destroy some of their outside possessions like carriages and gardens. Once I felt they were sufficiently harassed, or had spent a ton of money trying to get rid of me, I’d leave and move on to the next one. Again, THIS IS NOT HOW THINGS SHOULD BE DONE! Please, for the love of the gods, understand that! Either way, that was my schedule for each asshole noble that we encountered. I even got a name for myself, I was simply known as “The Beast”, or “The Shifter”. I liked the beast better, personally, because then that gave me the chance to make lewd and unladylike jokes to my wife. (Yes, penis jokes, and they’re still funny).The next few decades seemed to fly by so fast. If you’re wondering, Mona and I had discussed the possibility of children, but very early on in our relationship she let me know that it was not safe for an Archmage of Alchemy to house children in her body due to the amount of things she had to drink and test. She joked that she wasn’t even sure she could have kids at all with the amount of mixtures and tonics she drank in the past. Instead of children, we did as many of our arcane siblings had done in the past, and decided to become teachers for apprentices! I’ll admit, it was a very busy life at this point. During the day I was Lady Catherine of Mardul, greasing shoulders and hosting parties to earn or give favors to those who needed help or we might need help from, during the evenings I was Mistress Catherine, teacher to novice mages, and during the night I was known as The Beast. I would find a target during our social outings, learn all I could about them, and then haunt them with all sorts of horrid forms. I spent my time None of them were every hurt physically, but mentally I fucked with them, socially I stunted them, and monetarily they had received a slap to the face. This is how I should have done it before, but, you live and you learn. This does not make it okay, mind you. I was harassing people who were assholes, but there were definitely better ways I could have gone about it. At least I had a beautiful wife who helped me remember what I wanted to keep, and some adorable family. Vex had had two sons and a daughter, and Har’s daughter Athena was now a woman with her own little boy! I felt so old every time I saw Athena, I held her as a little girl and used to play with her, now she’s this woman and has a kid…ugh, time. Ralin and I kept in close contact, she was and still is my best friend, but she did like me and took on a mentorship role instead of a parental one. We got drunk and I asked her about it once, she said it wouldn’t be fair to the child or herself to watch them grow old and die. I couldn’t argue with that, that’s not something any parent should have to experience in their life. This was my life for well over a century, and it was truly an amazing life. I did have to say goodbye to many of my close friends and family during this time, but…such is the price of Immortality. It truly never gets easier. Mona had remained as beautiful as the day I met her through it all, we had a network of apprentices and students that went on to do some truly amazing tasks, and I had reached my Grandmaster’s rank in Shifting and Polymorph magic! I was now able to shift between forms in only a few seconds, and had mastered my ability to speak and cast Expert level spells while shifted! I’m not just being nice when I say Mona stayed beautiful, by the way. Her Elf Blood was strong and it looked like she had only aged a few years, and I remained unchanged to time due to my immortality. During our time together, and my time terrorizing Nobles, we found that many of those with horrid blood had raised their children up to be better to avoid being targeted by The Beast. I barely even needed to bring that form out anymore, all the higher class people on our side of the continent were now shaping up! So, with one enemy down, my stupid ass set sight on another enemy. There was one enemy that caused absolute havoc when they appeared, one who was loyal to their code and their code alone. I was setting my sights onto the hells, and their denizens. Mona and I had been discussing it for some time, there had been villages raided by devils and imps for refusal to pay for protection, or because a Warlock had an honest mistake and had ‘broken the contract’ without meaning to in the slightest. They were cruel, twisting their ‘deals’ to benefit them in a way where they could do whatever they wanted. So, we decided it was time to make them pay, and show that mortals are not to be messed with. Mona and I decided to come out of retirement from adventuring, and start to protect our lands from forces that sought only to do it harm! This, my friends, is what we would usually call ‘poking the bear’. It’s generally not something that is encouraged if you want to, you know, continue living a decent life. But, we were young, dumb, full of fight and ready to try and kick the asses of hellions for the betterment of our world. It was a noble goal, but as is very apparent with my entire godsdamn life, there were much better ways we could have gone about it. So, we started to fight. I was just shy of 242 years old, Mona was 160, but we still looked damn good and were at our peak! We started to do our research on what to avoid when fighting devils, what worked best, how to deal with them, everything we needed to take them down as effectively as possible. Once we had a bit of knowledge under our belts, we decided it was time to start our journey of becoming devil slayers! I thought we were going to be demon slayers, but apparently demons do not come from hell. Demons are their own, separate entity from a place called The Abyss. I know this is common knowledge now, but at the time I was very surprised to learn this. I know I use Devils when referring to them previously, but that’s because I now know. We decided to start small, just to see where our power truly lay and if we even could fight these things. We had read about imps, the lowest of denizens of hell, and knew where a few currently were. The city of Sclaire had become the victims of imp raids randomly during the night, so we figured we’d do them a solid by trying to push back against this problem. We set out for the town, the Lord Ross and his husband Barrin agreeing to house us while we undertook this task. I don’t mean to brag on our strength, but these imps were truly nothing compared to our might. Once they arrived, Mona threw a concoction of holy water and divine fire onto one of them and it melted in a matter of seconds. After that, I turned into the red canine wyvern form I had used to fight back the monstrosities of hell and made quick work of my share of them. The ground was stained with the blood and viscera of the imps in a matter of minutes, those who ran vowing revenge on us in the future. I turned back to normal, and set the bloody scene on fire to clean it up. My flames burned away the hellish remains of our foes, and then it was over. We looked at each other, a bit underwhelmed by this display and kind of disappointed overall. But, we had to remind ourselves that these were basically fodder for hell. Imps aren’t hard enemies unless they swarm in numbers, and even then they go down fairly easily. We were a Grandmaster and Archmage, we were incredibly overpowered for the enemies we had just faced. But, it still felt good to know we had done a service to the town! We were now technically certified devil hunters, but neither of us really felt we had deserved it. So, we started doing our research for the next job. We learned more about the hierarchy of hell, who had control over who, how they commanded them, how things moved up in the ranks, all that. We were upset to learn that killing a devil in our world does not actually kill them for good unless you do something special like a soul-trap or soul destruction. Their soul returns to hell, gets recycled through the machine and implanted into a new body of equal strength to the one they had just lost. So, those imps were definitely going to come back for revenge, I guess. Eh, whatever, it takes a long time to move up the ranks and we’d just continue killing them. Maybe some research into stopping that would be a good idea… We started moving our way up the hierarchy ladder slowly, making sure to build up our name as an annoyance of hell as best we could. Our first year was very easy, we spent our time hunting imps, spined devils and chain devils that we were way too outclassed to give a fair shot. I’m not going to say we wiped the floor every time, we did have moments where they were able to get a good hit on us or were able to cause us some damage, but overall it was a very easy fight. One annoyance, though, was their immunity to my flames. I had to rely solely on my shifting magic and protection magic to be able to fight properly due to them being immune to fire. It was annoying, especially since the majority of my offensive spells were fire spells! I started to do some research on the topic, hoping I could find something that could overcome their fiery immunity or even shut it off completely. My search came up dry, however, so it was back to turning into cool beasts I had killed and dissected and using their forms to maim a bunch of terrified devils. I had considered dissecting and studying the make-up of devils, but once I opened up a bone devil I quickly learned that their forms were mostly just houses for their infernal magic. Without the flames of hell burning inside them, these were just weird looking vessels made of flesh, bone and organs. Plus, probably wasn’t a good idea to be running around in a form that most people feared and wanted dead, so that line of thinking and studying was quickly abandoned. Once we had reached what I guess would be considered the level of Sergeant for the legions of hell, we had begun to acquire quite the name for ourselves in hell. We had not taken out incredibly high ranking members of hell, but we had been able to take a lot of them out in such a short time-frame. As powerful as those on top think they are, a large portion of their strength is having disposable fodder to throw at problems and handle most things for them. We were causing that number to decrease, which was causing problems up the ladder.After our first year, we finally got them. We had a bounty on your heads! We found out after a bone devil appeared in our bedroom one night. He held two wanted posters, one for Shapechanger Catherine Louise and the other for Potion Master Desdemona Torres. We had a price of 250 soul coins on our head together, quite an impressive sum! We were a real annoyance to them, it seems. We couldn’t help but cheer, even hugging the bone devil and thanking him for telling us the news! He was incredibly confused, pushing us off as he attempted to spear through us with his tail. I shifted my teeth into sharp daggers like a wyvern, grabbed his tail in my teeth and bit it clean off. Mona followed with a special explosive concoction she had been refining that seeped into the body of the devil. Even with their fire immunity, that didn’t mean they couldn’t be lit on fire. I threw a spark at his chest, the concoction lighting him on fire and causing the potion to heat up. It seeped into his skin as he screamed out in pain, his body starting to bulge and swell as the concoction did its magic. We didn’t want a mess to clean up, so I cast a spell of force to push him out the window. He shattered through, his body starting to crack and blister with energy as he continued screaming out in pain. In a brilliant flash, his body exploded into a glitter of magic and faded into nothingness. Once his corporeal form was gone, I decided it was time to test out my research. My hands began to glow as I set an area around the area where its soul would be.Immediately I started sweating, my hands burning as I felt the magic not course through me but more be forced through me. I had done a good bit of research on the magic of the souls, but none of them spoke of what I was currently feeling! I fell to my knees as I continued concentrating, the bone devil’s soul appearing as a floating orb in the area of my spell. I yelled out to Mona as the area around it contracted around it, now starting to tremble. “Get the bottle ready! This is our one chance!” It hurt so badly, it felt like my skin was splitting as I pulled the soul back to us. Mona uncorked one of her bottles, and in went the soul. She corked the top, a barrier of sealing surrounding the bottle as she placed it on her belt. My arms ached as I laid on the ground, burns on the tips of my fingers as I cried out in pain. It seems in my eagerness to test my studies, I had overworked myself almost immediately and caused myself some rather serious mana burns…I’ve felt the burns of flames, I’ve felt the burn of hellfire, I’ve felt the burns of fires from the Fire Plane. This was a burn that I could not heal away, and I felt it running through my body. I tried my best to stand up, body shaking as all I could think about was getting back in bed and sleeping off this burning in my body. My muscles ached, I was drenched in sweat. I flopped back in bed as tears started to fall, just praying to whatever gods were listening that this feeling would end soon. Sweet Mona tried to help, but nothing seemed to make my symptoms any better. I couldn’t use my phoenix flame to numb my nerves for risk of causing further damage, so I had to just ride it out. I didn’t get much sleep that night, even trying to get out of bed and sleep in the dressing room that connected to our bedroom so that I could let Mona have some peaceful rest without my crying and screaming. She wouldn’t let me leave, though, making me stay by her side. I wanted to hold her, I always felt better when she was in my arms, but just feeling her body against mine felt like knives scraping against my skin. Morning arrived after what felt like years, my body at least not burning anymore, but it was still shaking. I could barely eat any of the breakfast our cook, Miss Graham, had prepared and spent most of that day sleeping it off. It took a full two days before my body finally returned to normal, but thankfully in that time Mona had started to do some experimentation with the soul she currently housed in her bottle. She began to study it, hoping she could find a way to keep it contained or even harness its power in some way. As I’m sure is a surprise to no one, souls are an incredibly powerful source of power. We had heard tale of people being able to capture a soul and use it to power machines of war, or use it as a sort of mana battery that could be drawn from in a time of need, but no solid research could ever be found. We wanted to try and expand this research as best we could, but after seeing the catastrophe that was the simple process of getting a single soul into a container, we decided that this one soul was going to be all we got for the time being. Remember what I said about poking the bear before? Yeah, we had moved from that to now slapping the ass of the bear and calling it a bitch. We had a soul from hell in our possession and were currently experimenting on it like mad scientists. This is what any denomination, organization, or species would consider a ‘dick move’. I’ve done a lot of magic in my time, but soul magic is definitely one that I would consider the most heinous act of them all. The soul is a sacred object, and trying to tamper with it is an act that you cannot take back. If anyone does not understand the soul, allow me to try and explain it as simply as possible. The soul is like a pile of sand. The experiences and time we have with it in and on various planes shapes that sand into a new shape, or a new pile. Each grain is placed in a certain point for a certain reason, it has been shaped for the specific purpose of being what it is. I mentioned at the beginning how I felt the disconnect between my soul and my body, either through some divine mix up during my creation or whatever. My soul was designed in an exact way by the forces of magic, or the universe, or a god, or whatever to be the way it should be and I had to fix the other part with my own strength. Those experiences helped my soul take shape more effectively, cementing in it the truth of who I was and who I should have been from the beginning. I’d like to go off on a tangent real quick, if I may. As many know, at the time I send this into the OrbNet, it is currently the celebration of sexual and gender expression known as Pride Month. Many like myself have faced the pain of uncertainty, discrimination and the occasional hatred for what we are. I did not express it in the beginning, as I did not want to write about my experiences too deeply (and yet here we are now, having taken up so much of your time already and definitely going to take more), but I experienced my fair share of hatred as well during my youth and studies. Before I could fully harness Biomancy, as I now know it to be called (thank you for informing me, Percy), I would cast disguise on myself in my day to day life to try and alleviate the discomfort of existing. However, there were many with what is colloquially known as ‘Stanky Old Wizard Eyes’. These allow wizened magic uses to see into realms beyond our own and even see through things like illusions. So, while some would see me in my female disguise, there would be the old wizards who would berate me, saying that I ‘wasn’t a real witch, just a wizard pretending’ and that I was just misguided by ‘new age thinking’. Yeah? Well, guess who’s still young, beautiful and has a smoking hot wife while you’re probably a pile of dust and worm food, you crotchety old prick… Anyways, sorry, this is all to come to one very specific point: My soul is the way it is because of my experiences. Every grain of sand was purposefully placed exactly where it needed to be. I know it sounds strange, but going through that experience allowed me to see the suffering people go through that are afflicted with problems beyond what I experienced as well. It taught me empathy more than I could have ever learned on my own, and helped me to see people not by their form or their past, but by who they are inside and who they are in that moment. And right now, we were shoving our hand into the pile of sand that was this bone devil’s soul. It doesn’t matter that it was a devil, it doesn’t matter that it had tried to kill us days before, we were fucking with something that should not be fucked with. Sure, with some fiddling we could shape it back into how we found it, but this soul would be irreversibly changed for the rest of time due to our interference and prying. Don’t fuck with souls, you truly do not know what you’re messing with and one single grain of sand moved can cause the entire thing to collapse. After the capture and imprisonment of the bone devil’s soul, the forces of hell started to take us as a more serious threat. Before we were just an annoyance, but now they started to view us as a real deal threat. Larger and more dangerous foes were starting to come after us. We were able to fend them off for the most part, thankfully, but it was starting to get much scarier. Whereas before we would escape with minor bruises or cuts, now we were starting to have serious injuries that needed to be healed. Bone devils upgraded chain devils, which upgraded to Ice Devils, who I could finally use my Pyromancy against! It was still a difficult fight each time, but now we at least had the upper hand when we fought them. Another year passed, our names now cemented as opponents of hell. Our bounties had been increased to 500 soul coins each and an upgrade to Lieutenant to whichever devil managed to bring us in. Our efforts had been paying off so well, though. Hell Raids had slowed down immensely as hell focused their resources on trying to stop us, our crusade even inspiring others to take up the mantle of Devil Hunters and fight back against the lesser members of Hell’s Army. Through the year, we were even able to gather information and figure out how to harness the soul of the Bone Devil. We learned more about it including its name, rank, we even learned what Archdevil they served. They were named Belgranon, they were a Commander in the army of Dispater. They primarily commanded imps, succubi, incubi and lesser winged devils, but they seemed to be a trusted member of Dispater’s forces. As we studied up on the Archdevil in question, we learned he was quite the paranoid Archdevil. He was very selective of who he allowed into his circle of trust, only taking those he could trust fully into his army. Devils often tried to backstab and cross each other for power or favor, so he had to be completely sure he could trust in someone that they wouldn’t attempt to betray him. As we started to pry deeper into Belgranon’s soul, it started to lose its shape very slowly. What was once an orb started to flicker and occasionally turn into more of an ectoplasmic goo before attempting to return back into an orb. We thought nothing of it, thinking it might just be trying to escape, so pressing on with our next experiment. Once we had learned to harness the power of the soul, we decided to test it in Mona’s potions. We hooked the soul as a power source to her alchemical workstation, and she began brewing. Belgranon immediately started glowing as potions were brewed, a distinct glow about them that even Mona herself couldn’t have accomplished. I decided to be the test for her first potion, a simple mana potion that she had brewed thousands of times. I stepped out into the yard, and my hands began to glow a bright red. My pupils turned into slits as my body started to expand, brown scales covering my body and a tail sprouting forth from my back. I was casting my strongest Biomancy spell, taking on the body of an Elder Earthen Wyrm. I let out a loud, intimating roar that echoed through our city and the neighboring towns. I held my head up high to the sky, my strongest pyromancy flying from my mouth as I exhaled a plume of dragonflame into the sky. The clouds dissipated from the sheer force of my flames, but it was already starting to wear on me. I quickly turned back to normal, my mana drained in only a few seconds. That was another of my ‘only in insane emergencies’ spells, as it gave me a single shot before I was completely spent. I walked back in, head pounding as if I had a horrible migraine, and happily downed the potion without a second thought. As it flowed through me, I could immediately feel its effects. My mana went from empty to nearly full in an instant, my body erupting in a burst of flame as my Wildfire Avatar form took hold. It seems even my body knew it had to burn off the excess mana I had consumed, and I burned for well over 5 minutes in a form that would usually only last at most 2 minutes at full mana. The flames extinguished, but I still felt incredible, as if I had never cast any spells to begin with! Mona and I cheered as we saw the potential of soul harvesting, sharing a kiss and an embrace. She began to brew and brew more potions that afternoon, a fire of passion burning inside her that I hadn’t seen in decades. She made dozens of basic potions, now enhanced to levels no one could ever imagine thanks to the harvesting and usage of Belgranon’s soul. However, after a passion filled day of brewing, we saw the effect it had on Belgranon’s soul. What was once an orb that filled the entire bottle and glowed bright had been reduced to but a small, burning and dying ember. We had created enough potions to last any normal person a lifetime and then some, but we saw the cost. As we watched the soul together, it eventually faded from the bottle. It wasn’t an explosion, or a bright flash, it just…disappeared. We uncorked the bottle, and truly saw that the soul had been destroyed by our meddling. Not only had we shifted the sands, we had taken it apart. There was not a single piece of Belgranon left, even the potions we had created did not hold a piece of him. He had been erased not just from hell, but from existence itself. The bear was now awake, and it was mad… Thank you again for your time. I know it’s a lot to get through, but please know that it means the world to me that people find any interest in my story and allow me to get things off my chest and in the open. For those keeping track, my crimes now were as follows: Tricking a lich into giving me immortality, murder of the Goradel bloodline, harassment and destruction of property of several nobles and royals, and now the tampering and destruction of a soul. The next part of my story is going to be a different one. I was able to find a log from one who…well, you’ll see. I was able to find a recollection that I think would give a better picture of this next part better than I could ever explain it. Just know that the next part of my story will be detailed from the perspective of another, but will still be part of my story. Thank you again, I love you all so much. |
2024.06.09 01:08 wolviesaurus Review of my Necropolis SCSSF builds
I don't know if I'm quite ready to quit the league entirely yet, but I'm sure I won't make a completely new build until the next league so I figured I should voice my thoughts on my league journey for anyone who cares to listen. This is my second 40/40 league and I've put way more time into this league than any other by a decent margin, including Sanctum which was my first 40/40 and I'll try to explain why because I'm not sure I fully know why myself. I've been an SSF player since Ultimatum league and any and all thoughts voiced here are from this perspective.
The league started as a hot mess, I was very lukewarm to it. Lots of heavyhanded balancing swings but most of those had little impact on SSF, with the significant rework of the Graveyard crafting mechanic after the first week it turned into one of the most overpowered mechanics we've ever seen, easily on par with Harvest and Recombinators. This opened up the build space in SSF wider than we've ever seen and together with the great QoL-ening this patch, SSF players are eating good. Thus, here are the characters I've put together on my journey to once again dunk on uber bosses and to conquer the new beast that was Back ToBack Basics T17 maps.
Prelude on this list is my starter that I didn't finish to any satisfying degree, Armageddon Brand of Recall Saboteur. I will not provide a PoB for this character because there's nothing to see, I hated every aspect of the build. Triggerbots are utterly unreliable for any setup that deals damage around the bots themselves. As an avid Summoner player (as you'll see), I can say Triggerbots have the most infuriating AI I've ever had to deal with. There is impressive damage potential here for sure, but it simply turned out to be a terrible choice as a starter, especially in SSF.
It did however allow me to setup for a second character, so onwards to the builds actually worth showing:
1. Popcorn SRS Necromancer - https://pobb.in/ssQh5T6l1DOa
One of my favorite skills in the game and definitely my favorite use of said skill. I love my little heatseeking undead missiles. Now, it's not the best build by any means, it's got mediocre clear, delayed damage and with the new(ish) Transfigured setup, some awkward piloting with Unleash support, it's got it's quirks. Still, this build managed to clear all T17 maps and down all ubers albeit in a dirty fashion with many portals falling to collateral damage. It's greatest badge of honor was the ability to actively stun uber bosses out of long animations, including Uber Shapers Beam and Uber Sirus Everlasting Fire charge-up.
Potential upgrades: The simplest and biggest upgrade to the build would easily be a beneficially corrupted Diallas chest, potentially pumping up the gem level by and additional 4. You could get three Grand Spectrum for +90% Crit Multi which would be very noticable since crit modifiers are hard to come by for minions. The theoretically best way to build Popcorn in my mind currently (at least in terms of damage) will be using Qotra's Regulator and Necromantic Aegis, this frees up your amulet slot for either a Replica Dragonfang or an Ashes of the Stars, I do think Ashes is the best option simply because levels have diminishing returns over quality at a certain point. This way will however sacrifice a lot of defense, but maybe you can reach block cap anyway with Necromantic Aegis.
2. Tawhoa Shaman Spectre Necromancer - https://pobb.in/efYfyYOXNXv6
My goal when I started out the league was to farm a Wraithlord and use it for it's intended purpose and make a proper Spectremancer once again, a summoner archetype I haven't touched since Redemption Sentries in Harvest League. I'm happy to say with this new helm and some borderline cheating from Allflames, Spectremancer is back baby, at least for a moment. The most popular choice this league was using Wretched Defilers (as shown by Ghazzy) but I chose Tawhoa Shamans because on paper they looked to have better single target, being poison projectile based with 100% poison chance by default. Turns out this was true. I was using a single Spectral Leader at times but that one is so damn squishy it often died during T17 maps.
This character turned into my workhorse that cleared B2B T17's and ubers pretty comfortably. Aegis is definitely my favorite defensive unique in the game.
Tawhoa Shamans sport a spellbased Poisonous Concoction ability with innate 100% poison chance and an AoE explosion allowing for multiple projectiles to shotgun (Minion Offence Mastery and Plaguebringer did make noticable impact to this). The base damage of this isn't particularily high which leads me to think Covenant and Envy provides significant damage, but they are not implemented in PoB so all I got is my personal experience. I experimented with using Vile Toxins over GMP, it felt ok but overall GMP definitely felt like superior damage. The greatest problem with Tawhoa Shamans are their default AI, they sit somewhere between Zombies and Skeletons in terms of aggressiveness. Attaching my offering-brand was enough to make them go to work though. This leads me to the next section.
Potential upgrades: Obligatory Amanamu's Gaze mention, I despise this jewel with my very soul, I've tried to farm if many times in SSF and simply won't give. That said, the absolute best suite of upgrades you could possibly do to this character is a crafted wand with the Delve mod "Minions Are Aggressive" combined with an Envy Aul's Uprising. This will provide the minions with some well needed fire in their butts, and could possibly even provide socket space for a Transience Spectre with Feeding Frenzy (tech in Ghazzy's 3.24 spectre video). Finally, a +2 Minion gems Covenant would be a noticable upgrade but I'm sure they already hit DoT cap as is.
I truly hope we will have access to the TotA mobs in the future, if not I fear Spectremancer will go back to being a C tier choice for summoners, I don't think Wretched Defilers are up to the task.
3. Void Battery Hierophant (Lightning Conduit of the Heavens) - https://pobb.in/k7KP3OXIUrGP
This and the next build served as some diversions and/or palette cleansers because at this point I had amassed quite a lot of high tier uniques and the means to level new characters really quickly so I will likely be brief. I got two Void Batteries back to back in short succession (a few days tops) so I decided to make one of the more niche Archmage builds available. Turns out LCotH is an amazing clear skill, just click and the entire screen dies, Crit Archmage delivered single target as well so this was a great T16 mapper. I built squishy and I felt it, not much else to say there.
Potential upgrades: Simply better rares and a full Adorned setup will likely produce a thundergod of a character that can speedclear T17s. Extra power charges wherever they can be found.
4. Triple Charge Stacker Slayer (Cold Snap of Power) - https://pobb.in/RSi1lS2ynkx7
At this point in the league I had amassed all the necessary components for a charge stacker together with a decent Adorned jewel so I decided to pull the trigger. I spent some time looking at what skill to use and since I didn't want to play Penance Brand again and I absolutely hate both Blade Vortex and Winter Orb with a passion I turned to Cold Snap of Power as inspired by Mathil. I tried justifying Creeping Frost instead but Cold Snap just looked better in every aspect. This became a very fun character, also very good at blasing T16s similar to the Hierophant. However I did not anticipate the awkwardness of Cold Snap and charge consumption which ultimately turned me off the build pretty quickly.
Potential upgrades: Awakened Spell Cascade and a Replica Restless Ward. At the time I had not touched Heist and I had that Brass Dome with some white sockets thanks to some Omens so I just used that. Otherwise lean even more into Adorned, better jewels and better clusters.
5. Energy Blade CoC Blazing Salvo Inquisitor - https://pobb.in/P75AesG0IaJP
This was my endgame creation this time around, the kind of build you look at and thing "yeah that's not SSF friendly at all". Very little creativity from my part in terms theorycrafting, plenty of help from CaptainLance's videos and just shameless stealing from Ninja, but actualcrafting is all my own. It's been a very satisfying journey to craft Adorned magic jewels, 8 socket passives, farming and corrupting unique items and so on. It's also my first time ever playing a CoC build and while I think the EB + Ivory Tower + Rathpith is carrying a lot of the damage, my god it just spews out spells at a rate that selfcast could never come close to. Combining this all with a shotgunning spell like Blazing Salvo with Returning Projectiles and Snipers Mark turn to some truly disgusting damage when everything overlaps. This Energy Blade setup is truly wonderful in the sense it's a generic blueprint for any crit spell you could care to play, it handles base damage, increases, crit strikes and enemy res before even considering main gem links. CoC solves cast rate as well. Truly disgusting.
Potential upgrades: Fuck you Heist.
Going from my extremely tanky Necromancer to this gave me a healthy perspecive on defensive stats. While the Necro was much slower in terms of clearspeed, I realized it could handle most of the nasty T17 mods even in a B2B setup without caring too much. This Inquisitor just shat on the ubers in a way I haven't experienced before which was kinda what I wanted but at the same time I did feel some limitations when playing T17s. It was very much a kill-or-be-killed build with some leeway thanks to the ES pool, but it certainly folded in situations where my Necro would just laugh. I'm sure in trade you can pump up the damage output to a level where you don't care about anything.
All in all, I think the reason I stuck to this league is the subtle but massive endgame rework in scarabs, Atlas trees and T17's. We have never seen such freedom of choice and availability when it comes to what content you wanna farm in SSF, the build space has never been so vast. I still have ideas in my head that I would wanna try, but I think I'm burned out enough in this league. I'm sitting on a perfectly rolled Ashes of the Stars and I wanna try Double Strike of Momentum quality stacking (server tick memes?), but I poofed my Diallas chest so I'll table that indefinitely.
If you made it this far, *fist bump* homie.
Feel free to roast my stuff!
submitted by wolviesaurus to PathOfExileBuilds [link] [comments]
The league started as a hot mess, I was very lukewarm to it. Lots of heavyhanded balancing swings but most of those had little impact on SSF, with the significant rework of the Graveyard crafting mechanic after the first week it turned into one of the most overpowered mechanics we've ever seen, easily on par with Harvest and Recombinators. This opened up the build space in SSF wider than we've ever seen and together with the great QoL-ening this patch, SSF players are eating good. Thus, here are the characters I've put together on my journey to once again dunk on uber bosses and to conquer the new beast that was Back To
Prelude on this list is my starter that I didn't finish to any satisfying degree, Armageddon Brand of Recall Saboteur. I will not provide a PoB for this character because there's nothing to see, I hated every aspect of the build. Triggerbots are utterly unreliable for any setup that deals damage around the bots themselves. As an avid Summoner player (as you'll see), I can say Triggerbots have the most infuriating AI I've ever had to deal with. There is impressive damage potential here for sure, but it simply turned out to be a terrible choice as a starter, especially in SSF.
It did however allow me to setup for a second character, so onwards to the builds actually worth showing:
1. Popcorn SRS Necromancer - https://pobb.in/ssQh5T6l1DOa
One of my favorite skills in the game and definitely my favorite use of said skill. I love my little heatseeking undead missiles. Now, it's not the best build by any means, it's got mediocre clear, delayed damage and with the new(ish) Transfigured setup, some awkward piloting with Unleash support, it's got it's quirks. Still, this build managed to clear all T17 maps and down all ubers albeit in a dirty fashion with many portals falling to collateral damage. It's greatest badge of honor was the ability to actively stun uber bosses out of long animations, including Uber Shapers Beam and Uber Sirus Everlasting Fire charge-up.
Potential upgrades: The simplest and biggest upgrade to the build would easily be a beneficially corrupted Diallas chest, potentially pumping up the gem level by and additional 4. You could get three Grand Spectrum for +90% Crit Multi which would be very noticable since crit modifiers are hard to come by for minions. The theoretically best way to build Popcorn in my mind currently (at least in terms of damage) will be using Qotra's Regulator and Necromantic Aegis, this frees up your amulet slot for either a Replica Dragonfang or an Ashes of the Stars, I do think Ashes is the best option simply because levels have diminishing returns over quality at a certain point. This way will however sacrifice a lot of defense, but maybe you can reach block cap anyway with Necromantic Aegis.
2. Tawhoa Shaman Spectre Necromancer - https://pobb.in/efYfyYOXNXv6
My goal when I started out the league was to farm a Wraithlord and use it for it's intended purpose and make a proper Spectremancer once again, a summoner archetype I haven't touched since Redemption Sentries in Harvest League. I'm happy to say with this new helm and some borderline cheating from Allflames, Spectremancer is back baby, at least for a moment. The most popular choice this league was using Wretched Defilers (as shown by Ghazzy) but I chose Tawhoa Shamans because on paper they looked to have better single target, being poison projectile based with 100% poison chance by default. Turns out this was true. I was using a single Spectral Leader at times but that one is so damn squishy it often died during T17 maps.
This character turned into my workhorse that cleared B2B T17's and ubers pretty comfortably. Aegis is definitely my favorite defensive unique in the game.
Tawhoa Shamans sport a spellbased Poisonous Concoction ability with innate 100% poison chance and an AoE explosion allowing for multiple projectiles to shotgun (Minion Offence Mastery and Plaguebringer did make noticable impact to this). The base damage of this isn't particularily high which leads me to think Covenant and Envy provides significant damage, but they are not implemented in PoB so all I got is my personal experience. I experimented with using Vile Toxins over GMP, it felt ok but overall GMP definitely felt like superior damage. The greatest problem with Tawhoa Shamans are their default AI, they sit somewhere between Zombies and Skeletons in terms of aggressiveness. Attaching my offering-brand was enough to make them go to work though. This leads me to the next section.
Potential upgrades: Obligatory Amanamu's Gaze mention, I despise this jewel with my very soul, I've tried to farm if many times in SSF and simply won't give. That said, the absolute best suite of upgrades you could possibly do to this character is a crafted wand with the Delve mod "Minions Are Aggressive" combined with an Envy Aul's Uprising. This will provide the minions with some well needed fire in their butts, and could possibly even provide socket space for a Transience Spectre with Feeding Frenzy (tech in Ghazzy's 3.24 spectre video). Finally, a +2 Minion gems Covenant would be a noticable upgrade but I'm sure they already hit DoT cap as is.
I truly hope we will have access to the TotA mobs in the future, if not I fear Spectremancer will go back to being a C tier choice for summoners, I don't think Wretched Defilers are up to the task.
3. Void Battery Hierophant (Lightning Conduit of the Heavens) - https://pobb.in/k7KP3OXIUrGP
This and the next build served as some diversions and/or palette cleansers because at this point I had amassed quite a lot of high tier uniques and the means to level new characters really quickly so I will likely be brief. I got two Void Batteries back to back in short succession (a few days tops) so I decided to make one of the more niche Archmage builds available. Turns out LCotH is an amazing clear skill, just click and the entire screen dies, Crit Archmage delivered single target as well so this was a great T16 mapper. I built squishy and I felt it, not much else to say there.
Potential upgrades: Simply better rares and a full Adorned setup will likely produce a thundergod of a character that can speedclear T17s. Extra power charges wherever they can be found.
4. Triple Charge Stacker Slayer (Cold Snap of Power) - https://pobb.in/RSi1lS2ynkx7
At this point in the league I had amassed all the necessary components for a charge stacker together with a decent Adorned jewel so I decided to pull the trigger. I spent some time looking at what skill to use and since I didn't want to play Penance Brand again and I absolutely hate both Blade Vortex and Winter Orb with a passion I turned to Cold Snap of Power as inspired by Mathil. I tried justifying Creeping Frost instead but Cold Snap just looked better in every aspect. This became a very fun character, also very good at blasing T16s similar to the Hierophant. However I did not anticipate the awkwardness of Cold Snap and charge consumption which ultimately turned me off the build pretty quickly.
Potential upgrades: Awakened Spell Cascade and a Replica Restless Ward. At the time I had not touched Heist and I had that Brass Dome with some white sockets thanks to some Omens so I just used that. Otherwise lean even more into Adorned, better jewels and better clusters.
5. Energy Blade CoC Blazing Salvo Inquisitor - https://pobb.in/P75AesG0IaJP
This was my endgame creation this time around, the kind of build you look at and thing "yeah that's not SSF friendly at all". Very little creativity from my part in terms theorycrafting, plenty of help from CaptainLance's videos and just shameless stealing from Ninja, but actualcrafting is all my own. It's been a very satisfying journey to craft Adorned magic jewels, 8 socket passives, farming and corrupting unique items and so on. It's also my first time ever playing a CoC build and while I think the EB + Ivory Tower + Rathpith is carrying a lot of the damage, my god it just spews out spells at a rate that selfcast could never come close to. Combining this all with a shotgunning spell like Blazing Salvo with Returning Projectiles and Snipers Mark turn to some truly disgusting damage when everything overlaps. This Energy Blade setup is truly wonderful in the sense it's a generic blueprint for any crit spell you could care to play, it handles base damage, increases, crit strikes and enemy res before even considering main gem links. CoC solves cast rate as well. Truly disgusting.
Potential upgrades: Fuck you Heist.
Going from my extremely tanky Necromancer to this gave me a healthy perspecive on defensive stats. While the Necro was much slower in terms of clearspeed, I realized it could handle most of the nasty T17 mods even in a B2B setup without caring too much. This Inquisitor just shat on the ubers in a way I haven't experienced before which was kinda what I wanted but at the same time I did feel some limitations when playing T17s. It was very much a kill-or-be-killed build with some leeway thanks to the ES pool, but it certainly folded in situations where my Necro would just laugh. I'm sure in trade you can pump up the damage output to a level where you don't care about anything.
All in all, I think the reason I stuck to this league is the subtle but massive endgame rework in scarabs, Atlas trees and T17's. We have never seen such freedom of choice and availability when it comes to what content you wanna farm in SSF, the build space has never been so vast. I still have ideas in my head that I would wanna try, but I think I'm burned out enough in this league. I'm sitting on a perfectly rolled Ashes of the Stars and I wanna try Double Strike of Momentum quality stacking (server tick memes?), but I poofed my Diallas chest so I'll table that indefinitely.
If you made it this far, *fist bump* homie.
Feel free to roast my stuff!
2024.06.09 00:31 Skrylisix My last try on a Mordekaiser ability Rework
Well hello, my dear Death Lord enjoyer ! It's been a while since my last attempt at a Mordekaiser rework concept, and I've been cooking ! So enjoy my magnum opus !
As usual, all numbers presented here are purely for presentation and are NOT balanced at all. I'll also put a "Wall of text" warning, and obviously if by some stroke of luck a Rioter pass by, they can freely imitiate (or even copy) my concept.
So let's start :
Passive: Iron Man
Mordekaiser Shields himself for 20%-40% (Based on missing HP, max at 30%HP remaining) of the damage he deals (Half the value on minions), up to 20%-40% of his maximum HP (Based on missing HP, max at 30%HP remaining).
The shield decays by 1% of its max HP every second after not dealing damage to any enemy or receiving damage from champions or large monsters for 3 seconds, to a minimum of 3-5% (based on level) of its max HP.
However, he consumes external shields for 55% of their values and converts half of it into healing.
Mordekaiser also converts 20%-40% (based on level) of his ADbo into AP and 30% of his AP into ADba. (doesn’t stack with each other)
Q: Nightfall
CD: 10/8.5/7/5.5/4 sec
Passive: Mordekaiser basics attacks deals (25% AP+15% ADba) bonus magic damage.
Active: Mordekaiser empowers his next 3 basics attacks, giving them special effects and increasing the attack range. They are also considered as skill shots.
Hitting at least 1 champion or large monster with an empowered attack buff the attack speed of the next attack by 15% (stackable 2 times). If all 3 attacks hit, Mordekaiser gains a 50% attacks speed bonus for 3 seconds.
W: Darkness Rise
CD: 2 seconds
Passive: A perpetual storm of Ochnun magic and metal surrounds Mordekaiser, dealing [10% AD +20% AP + 1-5% (target MaxHP)] magic damage every second to all enemies within. Hitting champions or large monsters with basic attacks or basic abilities gives a stack, up to 5, and increasing the size of the storm [area range: 200/250/300/350/400 based on stacks]. Enemies within the storm slowly looses Magic resistance over 5 sec (Max lost: 35% of original value). The storm’s size goes back to normal after 4 second out of combat.
Active: Swap between 2 states:
CD: 14/12,5/11/9,5/8 seconds
Active: Cast dark magic in a cone in a target direction, creating a chain to every enemy hit. After 2 seconds or if recast, Mordekaiser pulls the chains, dealing 35/65/95/125/155 (+60% AP) to all enemy still chained, healing himself by 25-50% (5-15% on minions) of the damage dealt (heal scales with tether time)
Current with some changes:
I tried to keep this whole ability-rework into a line of “what could be nice without needing too much work for Riot?”
Obviously you can’t do anything without rewriting a code or changing a visual, so I tried to keep thing into possible “copy-paste” and/or easy to code, and the least needing of new visuals
For the main line for changes, I tried to stay in the identity of “Walking Fortress” that was supposed to be shipped, adding the concept of “big, slow, takes time but destroy your behind when in range”, rewarding the gameplay of going in and staying in, but weak to poke.
For the passive, I brought back the tankiness that Mordekaiser should have never lost when reworked, it goes into the same line of “BriaAatrox heals themself a lot” -> “Mordekaiser shields himself a lot”. It also stay in the idea of a “walking fortress” that can go in the middle of the battle. The reduced exterior shields is to prevent potential abuse (but I could see it tweaked/nerfed more) and making the shields be more or less big depending on how much HP you currently have to give a potential opening for poke
Modified Q is what I call: the “reverse Aatrox Q”, but is also inspired by “failed” Mordekaiser rework where they tried to make him a botlane juggernaut. Current Q contradicts itself in my view, An AoE spell that deals LESS damage if you hit multiple people is just absurd, so I changed it to be an actual hybrid for teamfight and dueling, while bringing back the satisfaction of charging up the Q.
I know current Q system is to “reward” dueling, but since anyone with a finger can walk out of the hitbox without needing boots, well better change it into something really interesting.
For W and E, I could have moved current Passive into W and reverse it into the old W, but I wanted to see if I could make it more metal.
So instead, I kept it as a “permanent passive”, but fused it with current E passive and changing the simple MR Penetration into a MR shred tied to going into melee, so that simply poking with the new E (or a maxed out Q) would not be the most reliable way of winning lane.
For “interactivity” between the spells, I made my “new” W active to be a state swap spell that would change how Mordekaiser works: “Mistwalker” is for lanning/roaming and help in engage, while “Indestructible” is tailor made for longer fights and duels, and keep the fight going.
New E is a “poke” and sustain spell, but to get the most of it you have to go in and keep the champions in range, something that stay in the identity “If you get close to Morde, you’re dead”, concept even more emphasized with W “Indestructible” changing the slow into a threatening throw against a wall or Mordekaiser himself (Give me a hug)
For the ultimate, I heavily tough about changing it back into the original ghost, but I tough with enough change in the base kit and some QoL, it could work (Also less spaghetti). So I didn’t change it and simply added a few thing. (Also they made it uncleansable while I was working on that, so yea, rare riot W)
Thanks for reading ! Have a wonderfull time on the rift !
submitted by Skrylisix to MordekaiserMains [link] [comments]
As usual, all numbers presented here are purely for presentation and are NOT balanced at all. I'll also put a "Wall of text" warning, and obviously if by some stroke of luck a Rioter pass by, they can freely imitiate (or even copy) my concept.
So let's start :
Mordekaiser : The Iron Revenant
Notes: AP: Attack Power / AD: total Attack damage / ADba: base AD / ADbo: bonus ADPassive: Iron Man
Mordekaiser Shields himself for 20%-40% (Based on missing HP, max at 30%HP remaining) of the damage he deals (Half the value on minions), up to 20%-40% of his maximum HP (Based on missing HP, max at 30%HP remaining).
The shield decays by 1% of its max HP every second after not dealing damage to any enemy or receiving damage from champions or large monsters for 3 seconds, to a minimum of 3-5% (based on level) of its max HP.
However, he consumes external shields for 55% of their values and converts half of it into healing.
Mordekaiser also converts 20%-40% (based on level) of his ADbo into AP and 30% of his AP into ADba. (doesn’t stack with each other)
Q: Nightfall
CD: 10/8.5/7/5.5/4 sec
Passive: Mordekaiser basics attacks deals (25% AP+15% ADba) bonus magic damage.
Active: Mordekaiser empowers his next 3 basics attacks, giving them special effects and increasing the attack range. They are also considered as skill shots.
- 1st Attack [Range = 275]: Strikes a unit, dealing 20/30/40/50/60 + (60% AP) + (40/45/50/55/60% AD) magic damage to it and creating a shock-wave that deals 55% of said damage to all units around the main target.
- 2nd Attack [Range = 450]: Swings in a conic area in front of him, dealing 30/40/50/60/70 + (70% AP) + (50/55/60/65/70% AD) magic damage to all enemies hit.
- 3rd Attack [Range = 625]: Smashes in an area in front of him, dealing 60/80/100/120/140 + (110% AP) + (70/75/80/85/90% AD) magic damage to all enemies hit.
Hitting at least 1 champion or large monster with an empowered attack buff the attack speed of the next attack by 15% (stackable 2 times). If all 3 attacks hit, Mordekaiser gains a 50% attacks speed bonus for 3 seconds.
W: Darkness Rise
CD: 2 seconds
Passive: A perpetual storm of Ochnun magic and metal surrounds Mordekaiser, dealing [10% AD +20% AP + 1-5% (target MaxHP)] magic damage every second to all enemies within. Hitting champions or large monsters with basic attacks or basic abilities gives a stack, up to 5, and increasing the size of the storm [area range: 200/250/300/350/400 based on stacks]. Enemies within the storm slowly looses Magic resistance over 5 sec (Max lost: 35% of original value). The storm’s size goes back to normal after 4 second out of combat.
Active: Swap between 2 states:
- Mistwalker: Mordekaiser gains 5-15% movement speed and ignore collisions, and also gains 6/7/8/9/10% bonus attack speed. However, Darkness Rise passive storm size is reduced by 30%.
- Indestructible: Mordekaiser gains+60% bonus tenacity, and +15% bonus armor and magic resist, and decrease the effectiveness of other sources of slow by 50/55/60/65/70%. However, Iron Man shield generation is decreased by 15%.
CD: 14/12,5/11/9,5/8 seconds
Active: Cast dark magic in a cone in a target direction, creating a chain to every enemy hit. After 2 seconds or if recast, Mordekaiser pulls the chains, dealing 35/65/95/125/155 (+60% AP) to all enemy still chained, healing himself by 25-50% (5-15% on minions) of the damage dealt (heal scales with tether time)
- In “Mistwalker” state, pulling the chains steals 10-15% movement speed to all chained champions for 1-3 seconds (stolen MS and duration scale with tether time)
- In “Indestructible” state, Mordekaiser throw chained enemies in a target location. Units that hit a wall or Mordekaiser receives additional damage and are stunned for 1,5-2,5 seconds (throw range and stun time scale with tether time)
Current with some changes:
- Can be recast after 1 sec to exit the Death Realm sooner (obviously let the opponent leave)
- Going beyond the borders ends in an instant death for the opponent or stop the spell if it’s Mordekaiser (better make it a feature that find a way to fix the walls)
I tried to keep this whole ability-rework into a line of “what could be nice without needing too much work for Riot?”
Obviously you can’t do anything without rewriting a code or changing a visual, so I tried to keep thing into possible “copy-paste” and/or easy to code, and the least needing of new visuals
For the main line for changes, I tried to stay in the identity of “Walking Fortress” that was supposed to be shipped, adding the concept of “big, slow, takes time but destroy your behind when in range”, rewarding the gameplay of going in and staying in, but weak to poke.
For the passive, I brought back the tankiness that Mordekaiser should have never lost when reworked, it goes into the same line of “BriaAatrox heals themself a lot” -> “Mordekaiser shields himself a lot”. It also stay in the idea of a “walking fortress” that can go in the middle of the battle. The reduced exterior shields is to prevent potential abuse (but I could see it tweaked/nerfed more) and making the shields be more or less big depending on how much HP you currently have to give a potential opening for poke
Modified Q is what I call: the “reverse Aatrox Q”, but is also inspired by “failed” Mordekaiser rework where they tried to make him a botlane juggernaut. Current Q contradicts itself in my view, An AoE spell that deals LESS damage if you hit multiple people is just absurd, so I changed it to be an actual hybrid for teamfight and dueling, while bringing back the satisfaction of charging up the Q.
I know current Q system is to “reward” dueling, but since anyone with a finger can walk out of the hitbox without needing boots, well better change it into something really interesting.
For W and E, I could have moved current Passive into W and reverse it into the old W, but I wanted to see if I could make it more metal.
So instead, I kept it as a “permanent passive”, but fused it with current E passive and changing the simple MR Penetration into a MR shred tied to going into melee, so that simply poking with the new E (or a maxed out Q) would not be the most reliable way of winning lane.
For “interactivity” between the spells, I made my “new” W active to be a state swap spell that would change how Mordekaiser works: “Mistwalker” is for lanning/roaming and help in engage, while “Indestructible” is tailor made for longer fights and duels, and keep the fight going.
New E is a “poke” and sustain spell, but to get the most of it you have to go in and keep the champions in range, something that stay in the identity “If you get close to Morde, you’re dead”, concept even more emphasized with W “Indestructible” changing the slow into a threatening throw against a wall or Mordekaiser himself (Give me a hug)
For the ultimate, I heavily tough about changing it back into the original ghost, but I tough with enough change in the base kit and some QoL, it could work (Also less spaghetti). So I didn’t change it and simply added a few thing. (Also they made it uncleansable while I was working on that, so yea, rare riot W)
Thanks for reading ! Have a wonderfull time on the rift !
2024.06.08 23:00 ItCouldBeSpam Just completed a mage playthrough and I feel like there were missed opportunities
Hey all, magic enjoyer here, hope you can spare some time from your unga bunga to discuss the state of magic in DS3. Note I'll be discussing strictly PvE as I don't enjoy PvP or partake in it.
Just to get this out of the way, I can understand why FS wanted to tone down magic in DS3. It was extremely overpowered in DeS and DS1. A bit less so in DS2 imo, but DS2 had such amazing variety in magic it made up for it, it was actually fun to play. DS3 went the complete opposite direction. You have to sacrifice your healing/survivability for magic, which is a fair trade off because you have the capability of range to avoid sticky situations. The issue is you're more stat hungry because you now have to invest in attunement and it takes you longer to really take off, and if you don't dedicate enough estus to Ashen Flasks, you'll easily run out of casts halfway through a dungeon and now you're forced into a bad melee character. For hybrid mages this can work, for a pure mage this is the complete opposite of what we want to accomplish. I'll concede that this eventually gets better - after Farron keep and its surrounding areas is when casters really start to hit their stride, but at that point you're around halfway through the game just to start playing how you want to play...until then you're essentially conserving FP for harder enemies/bosses while meleeing trash which are like 80%+ of the enemies you'll be facing.
I feel like the addition of weapon arts in DS3 was great and a move in the right direction, but completely missed the mark with mages. Why does every catalyst basically have the same lame buff skill? In addition, it looks to me that DS3 drew a lot of inspiration from the more fast paced, aggressive style of play in Bloodborne. You can keep up with this pace as a melee character but standing in place, raising your staff and waiting for a ball of light to come out just feels clunky, robotic, and slow. It feels out of place with their own expectations of the game.
Now, I'm not going to just rant without giving some examples of things that could have been done to make mage gameplay more organic. You can tell they were kind of going in this direction with weapons akin to the Blue Flame like Immolation Tinder, but the whole 'playstyle' of it may have been scrapped, either due to balance concerns or just a lack of manpower, but WA for catlysts in their current state are completely unfun and I honestly forget they exist. Maybe they could have given a staff a stance WA where R1 fires a small projectile, while R2 conjures a magic sword to do a sweeping slash in front of you. You can obviously do this with spells, but the fact its coming from a staff's WA makes it feel more dynamic and fluid than hitting up on the D-pad to sort to the spell you want. Maybe you could find a staff that gives you a watered down version of a late game spell like Soul Spear or Homing Soulmass so you can have more magic variety early on, or heck they could have even had a catalyst thats WA turns it into a conjured weapon for a minute - a sword, halberd, or even a bow that has a unique moveset. There's multiple things they could've done to make catalysts actually feel more like a weapon and not just some stick to cast spells, and make mage gameplay more dynamic and fun in a game that's supposed to be more fast paced. I think they're slowly getting the idea with ER where mages have more ways to play now instead of shoot "pew pew" and "even bigger pew pew," and can eventually feel really fluid like a melee build. Even as a die hard caster fan, I can acquiesce that wanting to play as a caster takes away some of the spirit in how the game expects you to play, but hopefully one day we can get there. There are already countless beginner threads out there and the advice is always the same - "I don't recommend a mage in a first playthrough." Why? Well, weapons are a big part of the game, but it's also because casters take far too long to hit their stride in DS3 relative to others and the playstyle is just too different where it feels "off" to play that way.
Just my opinion, still had an amazing time though, happy gaming all!
submitted by ItCouldBeSpam to darksouls3 [link] [comments]
Just to get this out of the way, I can understand why FS wanted to tone down magic in DS3. It was extremely overpowered in DeS and DS1. A bit less so in DS2 imo, but DS2 had such amazing variety in magic it made up for it, it was actually fun to play. DS3 went the complete opposite direction. You have to sacrifice your healing/survivability for magic, which is a fair trade off because you have the capability of range to avoid sticky situations. The issue is you're more stat hungry because you now have to invest in attunement and it takes you longer to really take off, and if you don't dedicate enough estus to Ashen Flasks, you'll easily run out of casts halfway through a dungeon and now you're forced into a bad melee character. For hybrid mages this can work, for a pure mage this is the complete opposite of what we want to accomplish. I'll concede that this eventually gets better - after Farron keep and its surrounding areas is when casters really start to hit their stride, but at that point you're around halfway through the game just to start playing how you want to play...until then you're essentially conserving FP for harder enemies/bosses while meleeing trash which are like 80%+ of the enemies you'll be facing.
I feel like the addition of weapon arts in DS3 was great and a move in the right direction, but completely missed the mark with mages. Why does every catalyst basically have the same lame buff skill? In addition, it looks to me that DS3 drew a lot of inspiration from the more fast paced, aggressive style of play in Bloodborne. You can keep up with this pace as a melee character but standing in place, raising your staff and waiting for a ball of light to come out just feels clunky, robotic, and slow. It feels out of place with their own expectations of the game.
Now, I'm not going to just rant without giving some examples of things that could have been done to make mage gameplay more organic. You can tell they were kind of going in this direction with weapons akin to the Blue Flame like Immolation Tinder, but the whole 'playstyle' of it may have been scrapped, either due to balance concerns or just a lack of manpower, but WA for catlysts in their current state are completely unfun and I honestly forget they exist. Maybe they could have given a staff a stance WA where R1 fires a small projectile, while R2 conjures a magic sword to do a sweeping slash in front of you. You can obviously do this with spells, but the fact its coming from a staff's WA makes it feel more dynamic and fluid than hitting up on the D-pad to sort to the spell you want. Maybe you could find a staff that gives you a watered down version of a late game spell like Soul Spear or Homing Soulmass so you can have more magic variety early on, or heck they could have even had a catalyst thats WA turns it into a conjured weapon for a minute - a sword, halberd, or even a bow that has a unique moveset. There's multiple things they could've done to make catalysts actually feel more like a weapon and not just some stick to cast spells, and make mage gameplay more dynamic and fun in a game that's supposed to be more fast paced. I think they're slowly getting the idea with ER where mages have more ways to play now instead of shoot "pew pew" and "even bigger pew pew," and can eventually feel really fluid like a melee build. Even as a die hard caster fan, I can acquiesce that wanting to play as a caster takes away some of the spirit in how the game expects you to play, but hopefully one day we can get there. There are already countless beginner threads out there and the advice is always the same - "I don't recommend a mage in a first playthrough." Why? Well, weapons are a big part of the game, but it's also because casters take far too long to hit their stride in DS3 relative to others and the playstyle is just too different where it feels "off" to play that way.
Just my opinion, still had an amazing time though, happy gaming all!
2024.06.08 21:36 therichgamer9 What level should this ability be granted?
Hello everyone, i am in need for some advice
I am a relatively new DM and im making my first shot at a homebrew adition to an upcoming oneshot, but i have no idea how to balance these things properly. The thing im adding is a patron for warlocks specifically warlocks of the goblin race. This patron is based on the only named goblin in a previous oneshot that was brutally murderd by the party's warlock and grants some high risk high reward abilities, but i dont know at what level i should grant the main gimic, which is shown below.
TLDR: What level should the "Jimmy's Last Stand" ability be granted to goblin warlocks and should i impose extra restrictions on when you can be granted this patron?
submitted by therichgamer9 to DnD [link] [comments]
I am a relatively new DM and im making my first shot at a homebrew adition to an upcoming oneshot, but i have no idea how to balance these things properly. The thing im adding is a patron for warlocks specifically warlocks of the goblin race. This patron is based on the only named goblin in a previous oneshot that was brutally murderd by the party's warlock and grants some high risk high reward abilities, but i dont know at what level i should grant the main gimic, which is shown below.
Jimmy's Last Stand
When your hit points are below 10% your maximum hit points, you activate "Jimmy's Last Stand." This effect provides:- Temporary hit points equal to your Warlock level.
- Strength is increased by +2 (to a maximum of 20).
- Resistance to magical damage.
- Proficiency in all Strength-based ability checks and saving throws.
- Reverse AC: Your AC is reversed, all rolls equal to or below your AC now hit and all rolls above your AC miss.
- You cannot cast any spells
- Any attack that is not a melee attack automatically results in a critical failure
- You must remain at or below 10% of your max health for the effect to continue
Level 1: Vengeful Resurgence
When you reach 0 hit points, you can instead drop to 1 hit point and gain temporary hit points equal to twice your Warlock level. This ability can be used once per long rest.Level 1: Vengeful ResurgenceWhen you reach 0 hit points, you can instead drop to 1 hit point and gain temporary hit points equal to twice your Warlock level. This ability can be used once per long rest.TLDR: What level should the "Jimmy's Last Stand" ability be granted to goblin warlocks and should i impose extra restrictions on when you can be granted this patron?