#CR Cooldown is great

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Some things I noted in this week's episode of "CR Cooldown" :

Marisha wasn't planning on Laudna doing anything special with the sword... before Orym took off, and came back inside wearing it like he wanted to use it. That ruffled her feathers enough.

Robbie, a sweetie : "Have you guys had this level of internal conflict yet ?" Me, and the cast : "YES !"

"Motherfucking sword. I should have used Blight !" (it's hilarious to me that Marisha's hung up on that)

The cast realize that, in game, IT'S BEEN ONE DAY SINCE THEY GOT BACK FROM THE MOON. so much happened.

New feat for Laudna ! It's called "Void Puppet" and it's cool - except for the Wilhelm screams, you know.

Voring the sword is, in fact, a theme in 2 campaigns now. Huh.

Applause for Pumat, well deserved !

[balleater]

i just want something to come up about the bright queen being older than ludinus in-game. i want them to have that moment of knowing that there was someone who was at least 200 at the Start of the calamity.

[mareastrorum]

7:26 into the Candela Obscura Cooldown:

Marisha: I feel like we did a pretty bang up job at portraying how toxic the industry is.

Spenser: Yeah. That was the-- that was the whole theme. And also, not that we need a reminder of it, but, like, I was inspired heavily by the state of AI in just replicating...

Khary: I literally was thinking about what you were doing. I was like, this is-- this is a fucking commentary on AI.

Marisha: Yeah.

Spenser: That was where that came from, I think. The idea that we can just replicate your voice, we can just replicate your body, we could throw you off a cliff, and it'd be no problem!

I think the most chilling thing is the way Professor Schultz is describing his death Bleed clone machine in such a guileless, matter-of-fact way, and is excited to share with Evelyn and the others. He is literally just a businessman making a pitch; he believes in its value and that every gruesome part of how it works is just a logical feature driving the end result: profit. He is genuinely concerned/dismayed when he says "It seems, I'm sensing some hostility?". The death Bleed clone machine works!! Look at the results! Why on earth wouldn't you want in??

[samuraiko]

CR's BEACON and a bit about it

So of course I had to get in on this because I'm all for discounts and early access and NOT giving money to Twitch and YT if I can help it.

And yes, the site is getting SLAMMED at the moment, but I've now managed to get in, and it's working great.

Couple notes:

If you have the same email address for the CR shop and for Beacon, once your Beacon account is created, it auto-applies the discount to the shop. You will see the price crossed out and a discounted price next to the item (limitations do apply, they go over that).

I gather there is some wonkiness going on with the Discord, so I'd suggest waiting a day or so on that one.

Cooldown (the immediate after-show filming) IS WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN GOLD. Listening to them conspiracy theorizing and Matt answering a couple things (or in more cases, "You don't know!") is just great to watch.

Yes, there is subtitles/captioning, and it looks like it's done by the same folks they have doing the main eps.

Re-Slayer's Take is *NOT* the main cast -- it is run and played by other people. I gather this is in a similar vein to Midst, but them allowing other groups to "play" in Exandria. It is also all-ages-friendly.

There is an app in the Apple store and Android store -- IT IS CALLED POCKET BEACON. HOW FUNNY IS THAT?!

http://beacon.tv

UPDATE: I've seen a couple of Twitter posts about the app possibly being geolocked -- cannot confirm or deny as I live in the United States and thus cannot check (and am reluctant to dick around with my phone).

UPDATE: Someone brought up in the replies that captioning/subtitling is not yet on everything, and in a couple cases, it's a bit wonky. Again, hopefully to be straightened out sooner than later.

UPDATE: Someone else in the replies wondered about whether coming in on a live broadcast late means you can still start from the beginning or not.. IF SOMEONE CAN CONFIRM OR DENY THIS WITH TONIGHT'S BROADCAST, DROP ME AN ASK AND LEMME KNOW, PLEASE!

I'll add more to this post as I encounter things!

STILL MORE UPDATES!

you can join late and start at the beginning, it looks like they upload the whole episode rather than doing a live broadcast.

however, it DOES NOT have subtitles, though the speed and quality can be adjusted.

there is also no break material, just a quick fade in and fade out.

also no ads

AND STILL MORE UPDATES!

In a rare non-Apple access win, can confirm that Pocket Beacon does not appear to be geolocked for Android, at least here in Australia!

EVEN MORE UPDATES!

Re: captioning, 4-Sided Dive does not appear to be captioned/subtitled (yet).

THE UPDATES KEEP ON COMING!

The Android version does appear to support Chromecast

[utilitycaster]

if you're up to elaborating, i would love to hear more about your complicated feelings on Taliesin's reads of this campaign, because that's something that's been itching my brain but I'd been having a hard time pinpointing why and I'm interested to hear your thoughts!

So I think it's best summarized in part as a combination of what was said in this post I just reblogged and these tags from @kerosene-in-a-blender on this post:

#yeeeaaaahhhh#ngl it seems like the characters and parts of the cast got so caught up in the potential moral dilemma of interventionist gods#that they forgot the gods of exandria aren't particularly interventionist#critical role#critical role spoilers#cr spoilers

Ashton feels like they learned something about their own arrogance and assumptions with Shardgate...and then it just vanished. And the fact that Taliesin genuinely read that as what was supposed to happen when like 3-4 authority figures, some of whom (Allura) have existed since Campaign 1 as People To Listen To had said "This is a bad idea" in plain language does give me pause because like...with all due respect, I get why Ashton would do this anyway! But come on, man, how do you hear that and not go "oh maybe it's a bad idea."

I don't want to read in too much to cooldown and 4SD either but I really do just feel that like...some of the cast, and Taliesin isn't alone in this but definitely seems to be using it the most in-game, have come under the impression that the purpose of this campaign is specifically to upend everything we knew...but that idea is just an assumption that is not supported, and as I've said repeatedly, there is no situation in which the world is not drastically changed - there's going to be either a hostile alien invasion, or a friendly alien migration, but either one will be monumental within Exandrian history, and that's not counting the establishment of the Accord/the collapse of local institutions in both the Dwendalian Empire and Bassuras/ If one cannot see any possibility for vast change within the world other than killing/driving out the gods, I don't know how to address this nicely. This is an uncreative and stupid position that I can't engage with because it's so stupid. It's like saying World War II didn't change anything in our world because at the end of it the US and USSR both still existed largely intact. So the over-focus on only one means of change in a way that feels based on an interpretation of this campaign's purpose that isn't even stated anywhere is telling and deeply frustrating.

As the second post indicates, it feels like some of the cast, Taliesin especially, got caught up in a theological argument of divine intervention that personally I had a great time debating in Hebrew school when I was 13, but is not ultimately true in Exandria (or reality, for that matter). On some level it's like maybe read some Harold Kushner and you'll calm down; it feels like you're arguing against like, some very real religious tenets (that are not exclusively Christian for once) but in a story where that's not actually a problem.

I'd throw in that Bells Hells sit in this awkward place of not being nobodies (or Nobodies) anymore but many are still acting like it and Ashton is at the forefront. Indeed, look at the name "the Nobodies." The problem is that Ashton is a Somebody now. He's not like, the ruler of a city, or an ancient dragon, or a god. But they're someone who has the personal raw power and the connections to survive an ill-considered second shard absorption. They're someone who is easily going to survive a fall out of a window, and who can't be bound into service. They are someone who has been entrusted by the world to assist in saving it, and they're too fixated on the gods not personally saving them to consider the vast potential harm to others, and I think it's not inherently out of callousness but rather that they've rather abruptly risen from "orphan criminal who expected to be dead by 30" to "guy tasked to save the world" but they have no option but to rise to the occasion, as the Raven Queen said. To change the world, he must change himself, and I feel like Taliesin, who often enjoys the idea of characters who don't change, is perhaps too wed to that concept for this particular narrative. And, for what it's worth: I've said it before that my personal preference is to keep the gods in place...but I would genuinely be MILES happier with a party that decisively had decided to kill the gods. I would not agree with their decision, but anything is better than this indecision. And since Ashton is pretty staunchly in favor of killing the gods and the rest of the party is varying degrees of strongly against (Orym, Braius), weakly against (Chetney, Fearne, Imogen, increasingly Laudna) and unsure but worried specifically about the mortal impact (Dorian) at some point it's like. Either say "I don't like this, but this is the party's plan" or leave. The decisiveness matters on an individual level too; because Bells Hells does not have good internal methods of resolving conflict for reasons stated above and below, at some point it's like. You have to give it up because no one will make you. If Ashton genuinely cannot or will not yield on this, either commit to betraying the party (totally valid, could be a great story) or have them leave; if Ashton does trust the party, have them reluctantly give in. A party-wide choice must be made and fast. The party is aimless because they are all pulling in different directions and it all cancels out, but Ashton is definitely contributing extensively to that agonizing stasis.

I suppose I should wrap up with what I've been saying a lot but should probably go on this post which is that a lot of the flaws in this campaign are not any singular person's fault. I really do feel like they began with the fact that Matt was clearly building to this specific story, and Bells Hells were not a party terribly suited to it in the first place and then were given an earlier narrative that, because it was heavily on rails to get them to the solstice setpiece, failed to give them the tools to become people who would be prepared for this endgame. I think Matt really wanted the cast to make the decisions here, and did not have a specific decision in mind, and now they're all finding that they're playing characters who can't make that decision. It's a culmination of a lot of smaller out-of-game choices that have failed to gel into a coherent whole. When I say the Raven Queen was right, and if they are not ready for this, to go home, I don't think the party should be tpk-ed or anything, but yeah, if they can't decide what to do when they are essentially tasked with killing the BBEG and diffusing the universe-shattering bomb, they should abdicate. I don't think a story in which the heroes fail is a bad one. I know Call of the Netherdeep has been a touchstone in the fandom throughout this campaign and there's one possible ending to that that's sort of unsatisfying, but the unsatisfying nature itself makes it an interesting story to me. I think this campaign ending with the party saying "we can't do this" is vanishingly unlikely, and complaints aside I think they will probably make a decision now but it all feels exceedingly doylist - Bells Hells are the characters the cast happens to be playing for this climactic final moment so I guess they will play those characters, and those characters will have to make a choice so that the final moment happens, but it doesn't feel terribly organic.

[dumpster-fire-sapphic-failgirl]

CR Cooldown is like, required watching after the episodes

The pivot they make from these deep intense scenes into the love and excitement they have for each other (and their choices) is amazing, and also it��s just a fuckin great destressor

[ilanarose7]

Some morning-after thoughts following C3E94!

SPOILERS BELOW!!

Starting from the top of the episode: Ashton's low-charisma flirting is so adorable, and I think that's part of why Fearne gets so flustered. She's used to the strong, abrasive attitude they usually put forward, so seeing this side of Ashton (if I were to take a guess) is part of the reason she gets so nervous about what to say back. That, paired with what Ashley said on 4SD ages ago that these kinds of feelings are new for her just makes for some adorably awkward flirting.

Next up: Daddy Zathuda (thank you Dani Carr for the nickname). My running theory is that he's trying to find a way to make her Exhalt for her to become the vessel so he can betray Ludinus. He learned via last night's test that nearly killing her doesn't make it happen, but clocked the protectiveness of her relationship with her found family (namely Orym last night). Test #2 will probably be more like what happened with the first Otohan fight.

Skipping ahead a bit, can we talk about the converging of 3 campaigns into one tent?! We haven't had this much overlap in a designated area since the Malleus Key Solstice event! Keyleth, Essek (in disguise), Taldorei council members, and our very own Bells Hells all talking to each other in one war tent! This is slightly reaffirming my opinions that this campaign is essentially Exandria: Endgame but I am here for it!

Last but most certainly not least, ASTRID BECK!!!! Hiding at Chastity's Nook of all places!! "Bren sends his regards" Essek you are amazing! I'm sooooo excited to see what happens next episode. Also crossing my fingers that we take a trip to visit Pumat Sol to stock up before heading out. I miss the Furbolg voice

Last night had a little bit of everything in it (including the world's fastest shopping/cleaning session) and I loved it! Also, big fan of Beacon and CR Cooldown was great to watch afterwards! Beacon live Discord chat is 10000% better than Twitch chat

[monstersdownthepath]

Some extra details

About Clorpt and Val-Kasz that aren't in the original articles, either because I came up with it later, couldn't figure out how to organically fit it into the article, or just decided to leave it out.

Clorpt is a Chaotic Neutral CR 20 Diminutive Aberration (Chaotic, Earth, Great Old One). It lacks the Insanity rule of most GOOs, instead any creature making contact with its Churning Mind must succeed a save versus being struck with a psychic migraine as useless information about rocks and dirt fills their head, taking minor Int damage and becoming staggered for several rounds. Its Master of Stone and Soil allows it to cast any spell with the Earth descriptor as a spell-like ability, with a cooldown period of 1 round per level of the spell upon completion of the cast; this cooldown ticks down twice as fast if Clorpt is burrowed. It has a burrow speed of 100ft and can burrow through any substance, though solid metal slows it down to half speed. As alluded to in its article, it can Plane Shift at-will, but only if it's surrounded by soil, and if it's not in the Plane of Earth, it can only shift to the Plane of Earth.

Clorpt's Unspeakable Presence is only 150ft wide instead of 300ft and causes any creature that succumbs to it to be unable to vocalize anything not spoken in Terran; creatures that don't know Terran simply cannot speak at all (so it's a literal unspeakable presence). Unlike other GOOs, it has Regeneration that's insurmountable so long as it's in contact with sand, stone, silt, or soil, and its Immortality causes it to be reborn on a random planet inside of a geode over the course of several months whenever it's actually killed.

Val-Kasz is a Neutral Evil CR ~26 Gargantuan Ooze (Extraplanar, Great Old One, incorporeal). It doesn't fully exist in reality, and the Shape that exists in reality is actually a feeding appendage being extended into the Material Plane, something not even its cult is fully aware of (this is how its Immortality works; it withdraws its appendage and spends several years regenerating it). The rest of its body is safely inside of a mindscape of its own creation which drifts close to the Dimension of Dreams. Mortals who are hallucinating or dreaming due to narcotics can rarely enter this mindscape by accident, which is how it gets ahold of creatures from afar even if they've never heard of it or been anywhere near Val-Geith. Visitors it notices and catches are often released untouched in order to draw them to its crater, but sometimes for its own alien reasons, it will tamper with them; sometimes it gives them strange psychic powers, or awakens a sorcerous bloodline in them, and sometimes it just inspires them like a muse to perform some feat of artistry or chemistry. Sometimes it goes even further and destroys their consciousness utterly, pouring a fragment of itself into their former body (unless another Ethereal or Astral creature does it first) to explore the world. Such puppets are almost always powerful psychic casters--especially Mesmerists--but sometimes they become Alchemists or Investigators instead.

Star-torched victims are drawn into its mindscape while they dream. For the most part they're ignored, as many of them are too busy exploring the mindscape and aren't lucid enough to affect it. Creatures that alter the mindscape in any way or do something else which draws the Old One's attention are usually destroyed instantly. This behavior isn't intentional, it's a side-effect the psychic 'lighthouse' effect the mindscape has on addled minds. It's basically the equivalent of someone piling up empty sunflower seed shells and never quite realizing how big the pile has gotten until they brush up against the husks, and then shoving part of the pile into the trash can. The Shape doesn't consume minds, though it will sometimes pull them open to examine them out of curiosity or to gain an answer to a question it has.

Val-Geith means 'Gentle Land' in Aklo, while Val-Kasz means 'Gentle Death.' This has no basis in the game proper.

[rowenwolf]

Already subscribed to Beacon and watching backlog of CR cooldown!! This is great!

[pathfinderunlocked]

Chitauri Power Staff Soldier - CR4 Monstrous Humanoid

A technologically advanced melee soldier based on the Chitauri from the MCU. 

Artwork is official concept art from Marvel Universe LIVE!, by Marvel Entertainment.

This creature was created as a commission.

Chitauri are an alien species of ruthless invaders with an extreme military society.  Although capable of acting and thinking independently to some degree, all chitauri soldiers within a fleet are connected with the other members of that fleet in a massive hive mind, and are subservient to their hive queen.  If the hive queen is killed, the entire force immediately falls dead, so the hive queen typically stays far away from combat (often in a vehicle or fortress of some kind).

From a young age, most chitauri are designated as soldiers, and are given cybernetic implants and drugs which improve their physical capabilities at the cost of stunting their mental and emotional growth.  Their entire culture is dedicated to combat and conquest.

This version of the chitauri is based on their appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially the 2012 Avengers movie.  There is an alien species called the chitauri in the Marvel comics as well, but they are shapeshifting reptilian infiltrators and bear little resemblance to the chitauri from the films.

Some of the chitauri soldiers in the films had actual guns, but others used a power staff which could perform limited ranged attacks, and I used that as the inspiration for this creature’s weapon.  The fact that it’s biologically keyed to the chitauri isn’t accurate to the films (Black Widow fights with one in a deleted fight scene), but I did it for balance reasons.  Of course, if you actually want your PCs to run around with stolen technological weapons for the rest of the campaign, you can remove that aspect - a good alternative limiting factor might be that the chitauri power staff counts as an exotic weapon, and any magical enhancement treats the staff’s melee attack and ranged attack as two different weapons that have to be enhanced separately.

Chitauri Power Staff Soldier - CR 4

The dark grayish skin of this extremely muscular soldier is covered only by gold-colored metal armor that appears to be fused directly onto its skin.  It’s carrying a metal staff that’s flattened on one side, the end of which buzzes with some kind of mysterious energy.

XP 1,200 LE Medium monstrous humanoid Init +2 Senses darkvision 60 ft., hive mind; Perception +1

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +2 Dex) hp 45 (6d10+12) Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +6 Defensive Abilities fused armor

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft. Melee chitauri power staff +9/+4 (1d8+4 plus 1d4 electricity, see text) Ranged chitauri power staff +8 touch (3d6 electricity, 1d3+1 round cooldown, see text) Special Attacks chitauri power staff

STATISTICS

Str 17, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 4 Base Atk +6; CMB +9; CMD 21 Feats Distracting Charge, Great Fortitude, Power Attack Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +13, Swim +13; Racial bonuses +4 climb, +4 swim Languages Chitauri SQ coordinate, hive mind Gear chitauri power staff

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Chitauri Power Staff (Ex) Once every 1d3+1 rounds, a chitauri power staff soldier can use its chitauri power staff as a ranged weapon with a range increment of 30 ft. that targets touch AC.  The power staff deals 3d6 electricity damage when used in this way.

On the round following a ranged attack, until the end of the soldier’s next turn, a chitauri power staff deals no electricity damage on melee attacks.

A chitauri power staff is a technological item that is biologically keyed to its user.  In the hands of any creature except the chitauri power staff user it was created for, it functions as a heavy mace.

Coordinate (Ex) When a chitauri power staff soldier attacks a creature in melee, allied chitauri gain a +2 insight bonus on melee attack rolls against that creature until the start of the chitauri power staff soldier’s next turn.

Fused Armor (Ex) A chitauri power staff soldier wears metal armor that is permanently fused to its body.  This fused armor cannot be removed, but can be sundered (10 hardness, 30 HP).  This fused armor counts as light armor, grants the chitauri power staff soldier a +6 armor bonus to AC, and has no armor check penalty and no maximum Dexterity bonus.  These bonuses are already included in its statistics.

Hive Mind (Ex) Chitauri are linked to a hive mind, which consists of a hive queen and a maximum number of chitauri based on the hive queen’s hit dice.  All chitauri within 50 miles of their hive queen are in constant communication with her and each other.  If one is aware of a particular danger, they all are.  A chitauri does not lose its dexterity bonus to AC against an attacker unless all chitauri from the same hive within line of sight are also denied their dexterity bonus to AC against that attacker.  A chitauri is not considered flanked unless all chitauri from the same hive within line of sight of it are also flanked.

A chitauri immediately dies if its hive queen is killed.

[palaeophis-fr]

If you could host that'd be great, thank you so much! I've just got one pair that needs Ice eyes for now, and they'll be off cooldown on Sunday. Could I just send them over in a CR then? Also, would you like anything in return? Food, cash, etc

How does one go about renting nests? Is that nest network thing still around?

I can definitely tip and/or provide dragon snacks in return

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #116: Ibaraki-Douji

Oh yeah, I guess there’s another oni to make, huh. I guess we can make her too.

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the real ruler of Mount Ooe, Ibaraki-Douji! The banana oni’s best known for her detachable hand, but she also comes packing plenty of firepower, and the ability to get out of scrapes almost as easily as she gets into them.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Must’ve been the wind...

Race and Background

Much like her idol Shuten, Ibaraki’s going to be a tiefling, but since we need different skills she will be getting a different bloodline. As a Mephistopheles Tiefling (and thanks to Tasha’s), Ibaraki gets +2 Strength and +1 Intelligence, as well as some Darkvision, Hellish Resistance to fire damage, and the Legacy of Cania, which starts out by giving her the Mage Hand cantrip. Boom, detachable hand; achieved.

You’re part of a band of oni, so you’re probably a Criminal by most metrics. This gives you Deception and Stealth proficiencies to make sneaking out of combat easier, despite literally being bright yellow and on fire.

Ability Scores

We’re not using any tricks like we did with Shuten to make you hit things good, you just have a lot of Strength. Your Constitution should be second highest; you literally rip your own arm off as a combat strategy and survive. After that is Dexterity, because you’re a berserker and your physical stats should come first. Also you don’t wear armor, so yeah. Your Intelligence isn’t bad, you’re clever enough to keep plenty of oni in line. Your Charisma is pretty low, though-people tend to not take you very seriously. That’s because Wisdom is your dump stat- you act like a child a lot. 

Class Levels

1. Barbarian 1: This probably isn’t that surprising a class choice. You can Rage as a bonus action, giving you extra damage on strength based attacks, advantage on strength checks and saves, and damage resistance against physical damage types, all at the low low cost of not being able to cast spells. But I don’t think that will come back to bite us later, so don’t worry about it. You also gain an Unarmored Defense, turning that kimono you’re wearing into a reasonable combat outfit. With this, your ac is 10 plus your dexterity modifier plus your constitution modifier. That’s still not amazing, but it’s better than a kimono normally is.

You also get a couple proficiencies: Strength and Constitution saves, Athletics, and Survival. Ripping out your arm takes a lot of upper body strength, and you have an affinity for grilling.

2. Barbarian 2: Second level barbarians can make Reckless Attacks, gaining advantage on all your attacks for a turn, at the cost of all your enemies getting advantage for the round after. You also gain a Danger Sense, giving you advantage on dexterity saves against things you can see. Like that fireball, that you made.

3. Barbarian 3: Oh hey, speaking of fire, let’s make some of that. Storm Heralds are good at the whole fire thing, so let’s go there. As a Storm Herald, you can make a Storm Aura while raging, and the desert aura is a perfect fit for you. When you rage, and as a bonus action each turn afterwards, you explode, dealing a bit of fire damage to every creature around you with no save. If you want fire damage that’s more complicated, you can also cast Burning Hands thanks to your legacy once per long rest. It’s cast at second level, so it does more damage, but it’s also cast using your charisma, so its dexterity save (DC 8 plus your proficiency plus your charisma modifier) isn’t that great. But it’s free, so why not take it.

4. Fighter 1: I’m sure you noticed by now, but you have a lot of abilities that aren’t going to be covered just by barbarian levels. That’s why we’re going over here! As a first level fighter, you get a fighting style, and Unarmed (hah hah) Fighting lets you unleash your true oni potential, dealing 1d6 or 1d8 damage with an unarmed attack instead of a flat 1. You can also use your Second Wind as a bonus action once per short rest to kick back with some sweets and heal. 

5. Fighter 2: When you really want to go on a rampage, you can use your Action Surge to take an extra action once per short rest. You also get one last goody from your Legacy of Cania, the ability to cast Flame Blade once per long rest. It uses charisma to cast and attack though, so it’s not nearly as great as your bone blade. Why it doesn’t work like Shadow Blade is anyone’s guess. 

6. Fighter 3: Third level fighters get their subclass, and Eldritch Knights get spells that will let us do all the weird things you’ve got to be able to do as an oni. You cast them with Intelligence. You also learn how to create a Weapon Bond over the course of an hour, making it impossible to disarm (ha ha) you while you’re conscious, and you can summon it to your hand as a bonus action as long as you’re on the same plane.

You’ve kind of got a theme going, check out these first couple spells and try to figure it out! You get Create Bonfire, Green-Flame Blade, Burning Hands, and Absorb Elements. You also get Disguise Self for your first taste of shapeshifting.

7. Fighter 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to round up your Strength and Dexterity for stronger attacks and a better AC. Speaking of, you can also cast Mage Armor now. Your unarmored defense is free, but the little bit of a boost you get from this spell might come in handy.

8. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack each attack action to help you go on even more destructive rampages.

9. Fighter 6: Use this ASI to become Telekinetic. This feat rounds up your Intelligence, and it allows you to cast your mage hand using Intelligence instead of charisma. You can now cast mage hand without verbal or somatic components, and you can even make it invisible if you want, though you’d probably want to see it. You get an extra 30′ of range on the spell. Even without the spell up, you can use your bonus action to shove a creature if they fail a strength saving throw (DC eight plus your proficiency bonus plus your intelligence modifier). You can move them five feet towards or away from you.

10. Fighter 7: Seventh level eldritch knights learn a bit of War Magic, letting you attack once as a bonus action after casting a cantrip with your main action.

Did you want more fire? Because you’re getting more fire. You can cast Aganazzar’s Scorcher now, have fun.

11. Fighter 8: Bump up your Constitution this ASI for more health and more AC. This also makes Mage Armor totally useless, so that’s nice. For a spell that isn’t useless, continue that shapeshifting bend you’ve got going with either Alter Self or Enlarge Reduce. The former lets you pick one of three benefits- either allowing you to breathe water, change your appearance as an action for the duration of the spell, or grow Natural Weapons to scratch people with your claws. Alternatively, you can choose Enlarge/Reduce to become a kaiju oni, growing your size from medium to large, giving you advantage on strength saves and checks, and your weapons deal extra damage for the duration.

12. Fighter 9: You become Indomitable, allowing you to re-roll a failed save roll once per long rest. Oni are tough customers, you can probably deal with whatever gets thrown at you.

13. Fighter 10: At this level you can infuse your weapons with magic, allowing you to make Eldritch Strikes. Creatures hit by your weapon attacks have disadvantage on their next save against your spells if you cast it before the end of your next turn.

Your detachable arm comes in handy here, as it lets you spin your sword around fast enough to create a Sword Burst that deals force damage in a short range around you. You can also cast Darkness this level, though to be honest that’s because there really wasn’t anything else I was thrilled about giving you.

14. Fighter 11: You get another Extra Attack each action, letting you attack thrice per turn! you also get one last second level spell, and again there’s nothing we can grab here that’s particularly Ibaraki-y. Warding Wind can be good for dramatic hair blowing, at least.

15. Fighter 12: Use this ASI to bump up your Constitution one more time for even more HP and AC. This also makes your concentration saves a lot easier to make, so you don’t have to worry about dropping Enlarge mid-rampage.

16. Fighter 13: Thirteenth level fighters get another use of Indomitable per long rest, because WotC definitely weren’t running out of steam by this point, no sir. You can also cast the classic Fireball now!

17. Fighter 14: Bump up your Intelligence for better spells, and for your last any-school spell grab Summon Lesser Demons so you can really get the party started, bringing some of the oni of Mount Ooe into the forgotten realms. The spell lets you summon 2 demons of CR 1, four of CR 1/2, or eight of CR 1/4 at random, and they’re hostile to every creature they can see. That includes you though, so be careful where you cast this.

18. Fighter 15: Your last goody from being an eldritch knight is the Arcane Charge, allowing you to teleport before or after you use your Action Surge. There’s really no better way to Disengage from a fight.

19. Fighter 16: Use your last ASI to bump up your Dexterity for a stronger AC. You also get your hands on some super spicy candy this level, letting you throw around Melf’s Minute Meteors as an action for a couple of turns after casting the spell. Whole lot of fire damage getting thrown around, it’s fun for the whole family.

20. Fighter 17: Your capstone level isn’t too flashy, but it does give you an extra use of Action Surge and Indomitable for their respective cooldown times. If one Disengage wasn’t enough, a second should do the trick.

Pros:

With all those attacks and being able to attack recklessly, it’s no wonder you can do consistent damage. And even on the off chance you’re fighting something with a high AC, you can switch to cantrips and keep up the pressure.

Doing damage is nice, but walking away from the damage without having every guard in town bearing down on you is even better. Thanks to your magical disguises and teleportation skills you’re something of an Escape Artist. Consequences are for other people.

Have I ever mentioned that Action Surges with magic are fun? Because they are. Unlike quickened spell, both of your action spells can be levelled, letting you deal tons of damage in a single turn.

Cons:

Most of your magical damage is Fire based, meaning there will be plenty of times where your magic is nigh useless. Good thing you can fall back on hitting things.

Mixing fighter and barbarian is usually a good thing, and it is here too, but it does mean you have to deal with magic and rage bumping up against each other.

For most of this build, you’re stuck with weak spells, meaning that magic disguise I mentioned earlier isn’t quite as useful as you’d hope. Also you’re going to find a lot of people ducking out of the way of your fireballs.

[nemrut]

Epic 7 Balance Adjustment Patch for 08.07.21

So, we got a bunch of buffs for a few characters. Have to say, mixed feelings about these:

ML Ken

The ML Ken buff is one I really wanted but it is one that, on paper at least, doesn't fix his problems. His current issues are that for one, there are a lot of strong, meta units who do not trigger counters, like Landy and Spec Tene. They can hit him with no fear and kill him. Then there is LQC, where her S3 is guaranteed to burst down all but the most tanky of ML Kens. And then, lastly, there are a ton of debuffers, with the addendum that there are also a lot of cleansers atm, so the last point is the least troublesome.

What really screws over ML Ken is that these problems have different solutions regarding his gear. You can build him with lots of def and hp, to make him super tanky that he can survive a hit or two, but then you run the risk of not doing much damage. Similarly, if you go for high ER, which his buff kinda leans towards and which makes that slightly easier, you can resist debuffs better but also at the cost of the other defense and offensive stats.

Now, with his buffs, he wants no crit chance at all and can make do with slightly less ER on his gear. That is good, I guess. The CR push is weird because ML Ken is one of the few units who wants to be as slow as possible, so he can maintain his buffs longer since he doesn't really want to attack. ML Ken wants to be hit and then counter. So, a CR push may make him fire off his slightly improved S3 faster, but that also means he is getting rid of his buffs faster and once his S3 is on cooldown, that CR push becomes an outright liability.

Similarly, a 30% increase to his ER is not harmful or anything but it is also not really that helpful? Sure, it makes it a bit easier to reach a higher ER stat but if go for the higher HP and DEF route, while also trying to maintain some ATK and crit DMG, the 30 % ER might as well be nothing because serious debuffers have over 100% effectiveness, some over 200%.

A buff I would have liked to see would be like, either give him lifesteal in his s2 or s1, so that one can switch his artifact. Or he gives himself a def buff and/or there is DMG reduction. I guess giving him an ability that ignores the anti-counter abilities would be a bit lame.

He basically needs to be harder to kill, or he needs a way to matter in the current meta where counters are countered.

Hmm, maybe they could have given him immortality, so that he survives one round, making him a real problem on the field. Not too happy with this but maybe it turns out better than expected.

Operator Sigret

Her buff is just straight up great and that is, I guess, the problem. She was buffed even though she really, really didn't need the buff. I do admit, if I had her, I would have less of a problem with this, lol.

She went from good to even better.

Holiday Yufine

Now, she has some interesting buffs. The increased burn chances on her S1 are neat enough, but then she gets a permanent evasion of 20% which remains no matter what, but which is increased to 70% at full health is excellent. She still needs a shield at the start to maintain her perfect health and with that the evasion, but it is easier to endure the initial attacks now and stay in the game for longer. Her Soulburn for her S3 is also appreciated, which means she can cleanse and CR push her team more. Great buffs, making her stronger and more useful for the roles she is supposed to play.

Violet

Violet has gotten a bit of a rework there, and I am kinda digging it, at least on paper. His S1 gives him now a CR-push, which is pretty good for him with his changes. His S2 cleanses two of his own debuffs, heals him, grants him an extra turn, and now he gains a 15% crit chance and crit dmg buff which can't be dispelled for 3 turns (in effect two with his extra turn mechanic). Instead, the 35 % evade has been removed from his S2 and instead taped onto his s3. Now, when his S3 is available he has the 35% evasion where after he evades, he counterattacks with his S1.

This seems like a really good fix for his general usefulness. Now his S2 can actuallly be molad, he is slightly easier to built with the reduced crit chance and crit dmg requirements, his counters give him a speed push. I dunno how viable this makes him for the current meta, especially with units like carrot and Spec Tene running around but he is definitely improved. I saw some people say that this makes him worse on arena and GW defense because the Ai will use his S3 at first opportunity, when he won't have the focus necessary to reset his S3 thus making his evasion evaporate but the thing is, Violet has been awful on defense for a while now. At least this way, he will be starting with evasion, which was his greatest drawback, next to being a single target unit.

Earlier, he needed to take a turn to activate his evasion, so it was rather easy to cleave a violet defenses because he only had the evasion from dreamblade or talisman. Now, that will be harder.

This may not be enough to make him that strong in the current meta but at least he is an option now. Agains the right teams, especially in RTA, he can be wheeled out and do some mayhem.

Elena

Elena got a 5% additional dmg reduction and receives a 20% CR push in her S2. This is pretty good. My Elena is speedy and high ER so she can cut into enemy turns and fire of her team invincibility, which is why i was running her with Magahara. Still gonna do that, so instead of 30% CR push, now she will be getting 50%. That means I can give her gear which is slightlly slower but has more ER so she will have a higher chance to resist all the debuffs.

Rather happy with this one.

Cidd

I don't use Cidd, not much interaction with him outside of a handful of times where I met him in pvp where he dismantled my team piece by piece. This buff seems to make him stronger but can't really say what it will mean for building him.

Mercenary Helga

Her buffs seem alright, but I don't know if that means she is inherently more useful now. Maybe she will be better for one of the one shot comps or things like expedition. More def break is always useful and while all earth heroes are almost nonexistant in pvp, hunts, expedition and that new game mode where I am not sure when exactly it comes, she should be useful there.

And with regards to the Artifacts, well, Doctor's Bag still looks awful. It is better than previous where it seemed to me that it was unusable, with almost every soul weaver artifact being better than it in almost every scenario, but once every 3 turns just means that at most it will be used twice on a particularly fast soul weaver. Maybe I am not seeing the utility, though.

As to Shepherd of the Hollow, it is on my Kayron because my other heroes are using the better artifacts and I don't expect that to change. Still, seems to be better than before but dunno about making that artifact particularly good. Not a lot of thieves who benefit from having lower health outside of Kayron and even on Kayron, Dust Devil is still better.

So, some interesting buffs but a bit disappointed. Had hoped for more. Maybe next time we get something for chars like Sez and Luna. And definitely something better for ML Ken.

[beru-m]

How good is kitty clarissa abyss wise, pvp wise, and pve wise?

Definitely one of the units I use more often. It’s nice that she can dispel, cleanse, but the one I find most useful is the S1 dual attack when passive is active.

In PVP I like to pair her up with Vildred because of his S2 passive. There’s this one youtuber who uses her + double Lots & dps Schuri for this CR control comp and I’m like wow that’s big brain. 

In Abyss I pair her with Luna & she’s great, dual attacks also decrease Luna’s S3 skill cooldown so I can S3 much faster. I used this combo for Abyss 100.

PVE..like hunts and farming? Hunt I have no idea, never tried. Farming no. what would she even do. UNLESS SHE HAS A DIFFERENT BUILD THAT I’M NOT AWARE OF. MINE IS FAST & MODERATELY TANKY, CANNOT CLEAVE SHIT :’D

[loremastering]

Lore Master Thoughts

If you’re a dps lover like me but you main a Lore Master instead of a typical dps class like a Hunter or Champion, also like me; you’ve probably found out that this class is more for crowd control than damaging DPS or good healing. (lets not even talk about tanking) Yes, LM’s are one, if not the most squishiest of classes. They do have a few damaging skills, especially on red line, but that trait line greatly lowers your defense compared to blue. (and vice versa) And your heals are decent, but the cooldowns can be fatally long and don’t yield as much as a runekeeper, minstrels, or captains. (heck even beornings probably have them beat too) This is a rather advanced class as well, and some of the strategies the game tells you about can go unnoticed while you’re button mashing furiously and probably screaming. 

After maining this class for almost four years now i’ve managed to find strategies that work very well for me and make this class very enjoyable, and thought i’d share :) THis is assuming you have decent gear and have updated first age legendary weapons.

Trait Lines

My favorite is blue with a bit of red. Get all the trait skills for blue first, then red. for red, go for skills/buffs such as increased fire and lightning damage, which leads to the lightning storm skill. This will make you hardier when it comes to taking damage, but give you more of a dps boost. (Lightning storm is your BEST friend when it comes to damage). Your skill inductions will be quicker, your pet will deal more damage after you use burning embers on a mob. Critical hits from your pet will lead to lightning fast inductions with powerful dps boosts. This will be indicated by a glowing, yellow/white circular shape emanating from your toon for a brief second. 

Pets

All the LM pets have their uses, but the lynx will always be my favorite. It deals higher damage for both you and itself, moves quickly, and in my experience lands more critical hits. (use it’s sneak attack first, it yields a CR 95% of the time) It can tank decently and most of the time you probably won’t have to use your bear or break our your nature spirit for heals. The only drawback is that it’s not very good at holding aggro. So if you need to burn down a mob without it hitting you, i’d go for bear in this situation. It has a skill that challenges the mob to go toe to toe with it, and hardly breaks aggro. If your group needs extra healing support, the nature spirit can help a little, but shouldn't be the sole healer of the group.  

DPS 

With the trait tree I favor in mind, here’s what I like to do. 

Burning Embers > Wizards Fire > Gust of Wind. This will turn the debuff on the mob from burning heat to searing heat, causing more damage. 

Burning Embers > Wizards Fire > Lightning Strike. Using Lightning Strike will cash out Burning Embers for bonus damage. 

Burning Embers > Wizards Fire > Gust of Wind > Light of the Rising Dawn > Lightning Strike. I’ve combined the two mentioned above somewhat for additional damage. Let the searing heat debuff run for a bit while using a different skill, then cash it out with Lightning Strike. 

Sticky Tar > Burning Embers > Cracked Earth > Sticky Gourd. This sequence will root the enemy in place while they suffer burn damage from the sticky gourd fires, add sticky tar for additional burn damage. NOTE: it’s recommended to withhold using sticky gourd in groups. as the fires can make lag and visibility worse.  

Light of the Rising Dawn > Lightning Storm. Stun your opponent with the light skill, then rain down lightning upon them while they remain stunned. ALTERNATIVELY: Set your pet on them, wait for a critical hit if they can take damage for awhile, then use Lightning Storm. 

Sic em > Summon Pet > Any damage Skill. 

But Ali, what about the staff skills? I don’t use them that often personally as they deal out less dps, but staff strike can give a decent stun when adding some red to your blue line.. 

Healing (more like outlasting your opponent)

Water lore: Use as much as possible in difficult battles. I’d even recommend using it before the battle, as the pay out is slow at first, then gradually builds.

Inner Flame: Will heal you and your pet somewhat quickly, adds a fire damage buff for good measure. 

Wisdom of the Counsel : Will be your last resort lifeline. Only use it when your morale is more than halfway empty. This can almost completely refill it and has decent reflective damage.

With a lynx it’s possible to burn mobs down before they can kill you. Nature spirit can help keep your morale up a little longer, but it may not be able to heal completely. For maximum staying aliveness, use the bear for tanking and holding aggro while you routinely use water lore along with your damage skills. Use Wisdom of the Council when necessary. You may be in for a long fight, but you’ll be alive!

Crowd Control

Finally, what Lore Master’s were born for! 

Cracked Earth is a decent root skill and can stop mobs in their tracks, but most are immune to the effect, or can break out of it in seconds. 

When fighting on two fronts, use Blinding Flash on one attacker, while focusing attack on the other. This is a GREAT 30 second stun, but sensitive to Area of Effect, so use caution with Cracked, Earth, Staff Sweep, and Sticky Gourd. 

When fighting a group, use Bane Flare and focus on one target. It has a 15 second stun, also sensitive to AoE. 

Buffs and Debuffs

95% of the time I proceed every attack with Sign of Power; Command. This reduces the mobs parry rating and reduces their attack duration. 

I almost never use Wind lore, as i’ve found it rather useless. Fire lore may not be possible with the trait line I use, so if you want to deviate and grab that from the yellow trait line, it’ll reduce the mobs tactical damage by 10%, and can make a difference in the battle. 

[utilitycaster]

Another great CR Cooldown is the cast's initial reaction to "Did she know" was "this is Liliana about Imogen, obviously" and like. Guys you gotta listen to Travis and don't go on Twitter.