#I love arcane builds and the damage can be really good when it's good. But sometimes the damage really isn't

[death-rebirth-senshi]

Oh embraced beast claws are fun, the beast meter seems to fill up way faster.

...which is bad if you're full of hubris.

I haven't really used beast blood pellets much because I don't care for the increased damage trade off, and also because I'm funny about consumables in general (the fact that bloodborne doesn't replenish your consumables from stock automatically doesn't help this) but having it on permanently with the beast claws has been pretty nice. Made really short work of Living Failures, Maria, and even Laurence (though I switched back to Ludwig's Blade for phase 2)

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Is there a chance you can make the yan! dorm leaders (mostly Leona and Malleus) react to their darling who acts like Jinx from Arcane? if you don't know Arcane you can ignore this.

Jinx Reader | Yandere Twisted Wonderland

You are erratic, you’re creative, you’re always building something, and you always seem to be armed. Hanging from rafters or gargoyles, you fit right in with the colorful characters of Night Raven College. So it's no surprise that so many are enraptured by you. If they can survive you that is they’ll make sure no one else around you does:

Malleus Draconia

“You never cease to amaze me child of man!”

If you are not found conducting major renovations on Ramshackle, your spray paint your tag on different gargoyles of Night Raven

At first, he may not be too fond of this 

but when he finally gets to meet you 

He’s happy there’s a piece of you on the things he loves

He’s aware you're a bit of an outcast but it only means he gets more of your attention

Like with Silko, you establish intimacy without acknowledgment for personal space and he’s all about it

RIP to Sebek should he have anything to say

Luckily for Sebek, you’d sooner point a gun and threaten him than wait for Malleus to exact his own punishment

You scare most people away anyway

So whenever you have doubts or insecurities they come to him 

Malleus is sure to filter out anything that he doesn’t like

“Of course, your toys are appreciated by the student body. No one has died and the screams of joy echo throughout the entire college. Fear not, my love.”

His and your sense of fun and ��what's okay’ is really skewed

It's so bad Lillia needs to be a father figure the both of you

But since Malleus is so….Malleus, he doesn’t always decide to listen to him

So it's quite possible you two will decide to bring wonderland to an end for funsies

“I’ve always wanted to give the world a taste of me!”

“And they will have it, my Love. Since I will it, your creations will be on everyone’s minds!”

Leona Kingscholar

“You’re such a wreck. I couldn’t call you an herbivore even if I tried.”

He’s mostly amused by your just bizarre nature

You probably first met because you jumped and continued to snuggle him

He’s also enamored with the way you so easily point your guns at the bigger guys in Savvannaclaw

From then on no one's going to question you

In fact, you're so unhinged the Savannaclaw students group around you like they do with Leona

And he couldn’t be happier

It's like you're the perfect accessory to his crimes

In the future, any scheme is proposed by you 

Because your like “If you want it I’ll get it for you”

He’s the one who has to reel you in

He starts having a problem though when people want to take you down a notch

Whether they trash your workshop or severely damage something big you’ve been working on

“T-they-! R-ruined it! It’s all destroyed!”

“I’m right here. I’m right here. You know me, I won’t let them get away with this.”

And he won’t 

while you’re curled up in the fetal position on his bed, he’s hunting down the poor fools who are going to be paralyzed by the time he’s done

“Y-you beat them up for me?”

“You’re my mate. It’s only natural I avenge you. Now stop crying and sleep.”

“Okay!”

Vil Schoenheit

“If only you put as much work into your inventions as you did your reputation.”

He can deal with radical personalities 

He works with Rook every day after all

But unlike his vice warden who is adamant about maintaining beauty 

you care more to build an invention that's going to ruin everyone else’s beauty

But he loves you still

Even when you have a hard time sitting still while he’s doing your makeup he loves you obsessively

“Darling, you left one of your gadgets in my suitcase!”

“Toss it this way!”

“I’m not. I know what your clicker toys do and I have a shoot today.”

He gains an uncanny knowledge of what all of your inventions do

And he gets just as good at dodging anything you throw at him

But of course, he’s not the only one under fire

Some fans eventually do find you despite your reclusive nature

And it's easy for them to threaten you indirectly through your inventive space

Vil will take control as he usually does

He’ll happily create an untraceable potion and invite the aggressors over to tea

And even when he makes them apologize he’s not giving them the real antidote

People from the outside will say he acts like your parent 

But he likes taking care of you

In fact, if you start trying to move on your own 

He tugs you back by your heartstrings

“Don’t you love me? Don’t you trust me, darling?!”

“Of course I do Vil! I just wanted to help pay the bills you know?”

“But Darling don’t you know I already pay for everything? Even all your inventions? Let’s not change that now, okay?”

Idia Shroud

“Oh? A fellow builder, huh? Maybe we can...have a bit of a wager. I’d love to see how you fare against me!”

You and him are two peas in a pod

Both of you are something of mad scientists

So you two are always inventing with one another

Normally in demented competition you both love to test your newest inventions with another

“Ah~(Y/n)-shi let’s make a bet!”

“First one to blow up is the winner?”

“And the loser has to be support?

“And the winner?”

“Hehe the winner…gets to make the loser reenact the actions from the R-18 doujin!”

“Awww poor ‘dia you’ll be so embarrassed when I have you reenact the maid scene!”

“Not as cute as you’ll be when I enact page 69.”

You two love wagers 

It’s Idia’s favorite game

To bet with you is the best

He could ask for nothing more

So its only natural he uses his newest inventions to torment whoever he was hearing through the bug he placed on you

He still gets shy but he can’t help but smile when you turn your attention toward him

“Mine! The winner of this game is me! You’re all mine!”

Azul Ashengrotto

“You truly are an enigma, (Y/n). I insist you join Octavinelle for the next year.”

He’s used to dealing with someone who is heavily swayed by mood

And he always has uses for your newest inventions

And since he’s always keeping you busy theres less of a chance you realize how much he shelters you

“Since you so willingly took up all of our commissions the least I could do was offer you this space.”

“Wow it has all the stuff I like in here! It looks so much like my room! How’d you know?”

“Lucky guess? I also made sure that I’d deliver your favorite meals at the correct hours of the day.”

“Yay!”

He’s merciless against those who seek to cut him out 

And he does whatever he has to to make sure they suffer for the crime of gaining your favor

he blushes when you're comfortable enough to sit on his lap 

he loves it all the more

And he promises to keep this as his special payment

All within the contract, you so easily signed 

He’s completely within his rights to do so

“As per our agreement, you can only build for me or concede and become mine.”

Riddle Rosehearts

“You have no rules or reason! Someone needs to whip you into shape and that will be me!”

He thinks your crazy

Which obviously means he has to take control

Forget about your love for explosives 

And forget about your habits with guns

“You’re royalty show some decorum!”

“Decorum? Forget that I’d rather be poor then!”

“Not possible. I won’t allow it.”

“Oh yeah? Than what do you say to my lovely Pow-Pow?”

“I say: “Off with your head!”

He’s intent on “fixing you” or at least encouraging a ‘better you’

And it's all because he’s grateful

When he was so used to keeping within the lines his mother had placed for him 

You made him happy with that spontaneity you just seemed to have

Now it was his turn

His turn to bring the order that you needed 

You needed him 

not anyone else

He’d sooner let your old habits return than let some plebian steal you away

“Fine I will let you use one of your…toys but I have a target for you. And if you do that successfully I can allow some lee way in your desserts.”

Kalim Al Asim

“Wow your exciting as always, (Y/n)!”

Leave it to you to be matched or even outdone by the prince’s optimism

He’s so enthusiastic about you

there's no reason you wouldn’t agree to date him

“I’m so excited! Now you can stay here forever with me!”

“Hehehe, Kalim I can’t wait either! Now I can show you all the cool gadgets I build and you can help me try them!”

“Yeah!” 

Even with the more violent results, he’s still cheering you on

Something that surprises many 

But should you try to expand your circle or become more adept at speaking to others

Something begins to snap

Slowly but surely the prince is making sure he’s your only close confidant

And at the end of the day, you’ll come to him for cuddles

Just as heplanned always wants

“Haha did you miss me today, (Y/n)? Because I missed you!”

[bloodyshadow1]

just my feelings on the bad kids and their class levels/classes right now. It's just my opinion, I am not bashing the multiclasses or the players choices

Adaine- Love it, she's an 11th level wizard, i get that multiclassing can be fun, but for some classes it's just better, imo, to just stay the course because having access to upper level spells can be more useful than a multiclass. I'm sure there's a broken wizard multiclass, but I think it just fits her better to stay a wizard throughout. Sometimes with full casters, I could see dipping into monk or Barbarian for the ac buff, but neither would help her so It's probably best for her to stay a wizard since she has access to 6th level spells since leveling up

Kristen- Same as Adaine, I personally like full casters to stay the course and keep on keeping on. again I'm sure there's a broken cleric other class build, like Saccharina from ACOC, but I'm not sure anything other than paladin would fit Kristen. A lot of her issues are mental and Tracker was right about her not wanting to do the boring stuff. I like her having to discover what she wants out of being a cleric rather than her dropping it because it's not exactly what she wants for something new.

Riz- 11 levels of rogue, though from the beginning of the season he's now an arcane trickster instead of an inquisitor which I think is more helpful and just a better fit. He's still a detective, but he's also kind of a secret agent so having access to magic helps and fits his character growth. Also he never really used a lot of the inquisitor abilities that often and his perception wasn't that good to justify the subclass. I'm also glad he is staying a full rogue so far, I think given the mechanics of Junior year so far, it would put a lot of strain on him to try and do more than just a single course track

Now for the multiclassers

Fabian- I think both taking levels of bard and going from champion fighter to battlemaster was the best choice for him. I think overall he was a fighter because he was taught to be one, but overall the boy is a bard at his core. The flourishes the spells, the charisma proficiency, they're what Fabian wants more than what he gets from being a fighter. Fabian has always wanted to be popular and stand out while being a great warrior and a swords college bard fits that better than being a fighter, a class he seems to have very little attachment to. Currently he is a 6 fighter 5 bard, since he was a level 8 fighter and gave up 3 levels to take in bard when he was depressed he has boosted up 2 levels in that class vs 1 in fighter. After the initial class level trading he hasn't decreased his levels in fighter, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does in the future.

Gorgug- this is where I get a bit critical, I don't really know if Artificer Barbarian is a good multiclass. I've seen some people say it's amazing while others say it's terrible, I have no clue. from what I can tell it doesn't look like it's super good, it's a support class and a tinkerer so it does fit Gorgug, but I don't think it really is that efficient with the Bad Kid's party comp. Fabian and Gorgug were the front line fighters, Gorgug being the tank and DPS while Fabian was a striker dps with a good hp pool and ac, but Barbarians soak up damage better than any class. It's also hard to be a caster (even a half/third caster like Artificier, and be a barbarian because you can't cast spells or even concentrate on them when you rage which is obviously a problem. It's just hard to imagine gorgug as an battlesmith, which I assume he is, since other than the steeldefender it doesn't give him anything he doesn't already have as a barbarian. We also don't know any of his infusions so it's hard to really be attached to Gorgug as an artificer when we don't really seem him artifice. That being said, he's Zac's character so whatever he wants is gonna happen. Since Gorgug has been trading an additional level in barbarian for artificer (6 barb/5 art) I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually drops barbarian all together. I think a barbarian is more useful, but I can understand why Zac would want Gorgug to go down the artificer path instead and I support it.

Fig- Honestly, Fig's multiclassing is the strangest to me because I can't really wrap my head around it. She so far only has 2 levels of warlock to her 9 of bard, even last level up she took another level of Bard, the two levels she took of warlock were in freshman year and she never really looked back. That being said, from the recent eps, it seems like she likes the warlock classes better, she isn't even sure if she wants to be a bard anymore. which I find kind of a shame because she also liked the 1 bard class she took. Emily is a master multiclasser so I'm sure Fig is gonna be great whatever and will be who Emily wants her to be. I'm hoping she doesn't become a paladin because, even if it's to replace her levels in Bard, despite hexblade being one of the best combos with paladin. It just feels like Fig as the character took levels/are planning to take levels in other classes to make other people happy. She became a warlock because she found her devil father and wanted to be closer to him, she offered to become a paladin for Cassandra to help out Kristen, but I think that's selfless, but it doesn't help her as a person. Sometimes you can be too selfless to a point where it's bad for you. Emily can of course do whatever, but I'll be a bit sad if has Fig giving up on being a bard. Like with Kristen it seems like Fig just doesn't want to do the uncool stuff and that's gonna be with anything she tries. I think she's running away from what she wants herself to be to make things easier/more exciting and I think it's going to backfire.

I will also say, it's not exactly fair for Brennan to poison her bardic abilities. I'll say more on the topic on another post but it's still how I feel.

[genderlesssinner]

Welcome back nerds

These Fey horse things are giving me windwalk vibes

Ash wanting to go dodging trees makes me think about that post about them riding a motorcycle. Yeaaahh.

I love their naming vibes, these dweebs

Oh man I love it when Matt mixes sayings that was perfect

Not the Creed reference I can't

Dirty 20 (for 22) and he got nicked holy fuck

Dorian riding sidesaddle is amazing and I love him

Oof Braius ate shit a lil damn

Imogen going full racer stance love it

Oh no Ash got got by a bird

Fey art school? Oh boy

Startin us off right, get it little man

"we'll get to that in a moment" uh oh

Okay okay big fancy twin tower

Oh it's covered in skeletons fuck

Hooves are bad for verticale climbing, yall

Ooh I hope they get a moment for Chet to do the Psychometry thing in this town that would be neeaaatt

Robbie following his gut, I love it, yes

Ooohhh shit someone is watching, that damn hawk

EEEYYYY Get it Chet

(fucking fuck I missed a minute there ugh internet issues)

Fuck whatever it is poisoned the fucking land not just the people shit

Oh they brought a guard dog, interes- nope it has a people face mhn, nuh uh, nope

MAP TIME

'for spacial awareness'

So freaking cool every time

"I believe in our 80% rat."

*said rat rolls TRASH*

Ooop- Pâte gone

Sneaky sneaky plus Arcane Eye nice nice

Sneaky ass Fey boys man

I always wonder if they can send images with Telepathic Bond but they never mention it nahdjdhchc

Oh fuck Tal's right I bet that was fucken Gloamgut landing. Damn dragon is scary

Mhm yep yep yep

Weeeeiiiirrrdddd ass fey dragon

Fuck man I forgot there was gonna be a Snow Luda here sheesh. Spooked me for a sec

I kind of want them to like try and listen and learn more but also blow shit up like Travis said, bring the fucken building down (which is a shame, it's gorgeous). More info can only help us here but we gotta make this go sideways for Luda

Ira you creepy sonofabitch

I think everyone kinda forgot about Ira for a minute there

Fluffy fuckboy,, oh no

Love fighting with Ira so far

Liaaamm a one?? No luck reroll??

Duuuudde Travis with double Nat 20s

The quietest HWDYWTDT ever and maybe the nastiest damn boy

"You think you're pretty hidden" Uuhghhhhh maaaatt

Why are fey critters so.. Nasty?

Dorian with a go on, git. I cant

What the fuucckk is iitttt??

Ooh this fight could so bad so quick Silence is saving their asses right now ooofff

Having some issues again but Idk if this is my internet or what. Audio fine but the video is frozen, had to reload... Missed a little bit.

Crazy stealth rolls from Ash and Chet, love that

And a crit fuck yes

Chet getting super gorey and I kind of love it

Fuck him up Orym, get it boo

Yess boys get it. Do the weird shit Tal yes.

I'm so excited to see what Tal is planning, I love how feral he gets with Ashton sometimes

This is going so well and I'm kinda worried

Cosmic space stuff oh yes maaann the wormhole fuck yeah

Man. I wanna read this barbarian stuff so bad

Ludinus knows that they're planning to attack the key - but is that because it's the obvious move or is it because there's a leak?

I do love that the Unseelie are like 'nah we'll sit in the shadows and watch your centuries of work crash a burn, thanks though.'

Oooh animating the statue love it, makes me think of Laerryn summoning a construct, man

Oh this is gonna be either really good or really bad holy shit

So my thought here especially since Ash went ahead and went titan, they could go in and do massive structural damage. And then as shit falls they should be able to get out safe because they can move through stone and shit right? And between that and Fearne making everything squish that shit should go down

THE INSIDE MAP AAAAA

FUCK ME I hate how big that dragon is oh my gods but he is gorgeous

Oop no statue

I think the group should try to focus on distracting these guys and Ash needs to get in there and do some seige damage and fuck shit up and then they got to GO. Fuck they can't move through worked stone, that's what it is. Hell.

I'm not sure if the Hells have ever worked together this well before

MATTHEEEWWWWW

Ugh the cliffhangers yall

I'll totally be watching again Monday because I missed somethings and I'm so tired right now.

See yall then ♥️

[crooked-wasteland]

Who are your Kinnies?

I don't internalize characters in the way many would define as kin, but I do have characters I relate to. I have several, but I think I'll stick to Silco from Arcane.

Silco is a cold and callously unpredictable man who seems to love his cause more than he could ever love another person, but his most meaningful trait to me is his sense of loyalty. He functions on this idea of loyalty, as long as you do not betray him, he will always be there. And it's why so many people are deeply attached to him. Jinx and Sevika are testaments to Silco's ability to create a space of safety in his relationships, despite everything else he is. Silco kills Vander for his disloyalty years later. Silco is a greedy, despicable, manipulative, selfish bastard. But he is also deeply loyal, which also makes him deeply loving.

There is a man in Silco who has an immense amount of love to give, you can argue his entire mission on giving Zaun independence is itself an act of love. While Shimmer is extremely dangerous and damaging, the money the manufacturing and selling of the drug provides could be used to clean up Zaun, and it has in the show. Many people hate the scene of Silco with the other lords of Zaun, but his Shimmer has cleaned the air in the under city and made it so no other children will end up like Viktor, poisoned and crippled by the toxic fumes of the mines. The mines the people of Zaun worked in to build Piltover. There is a genuine good that comes from Silco's evil, and there is love for everyone suffering under the hands of Piltover behind that idea. But when placed in terms of the individuals, Silco doesn't really love anyone, because he can't. And his love for Jinx shows why. If he loves one person, he cannot do what he must to save everyone. This evil man who was so set on his goals was willing to throw them all aside and take the hardest path imaginable for the life of a single girl. Because he loves so deeply and so selfishly.

It's this intense dichotomy that many refuse to engage with outside of their own perspectives, and in no way am I attempting to say Silco is actually a hero. Arcane is excellently written with how no character is stripped of their humanity to fill a narrative need. They are all complex people with the light and the dark sharing the same spaces. It's complicated and so beautiful. Additionally, I hope this post conveys that when I "kin" a character, it is in this sense that I can personally empathize with their perspectives as is. Not justifying them or making moral judgements, but understanding the person under the behavior.

[rosymourning]

The Rough Tempest - a Gale build

"A rough tempest I will raise."

Gale is an Evocation Wizard, bringing down the wrath of the skies on his enemies. This build but has a strong focus on Lightning and Thunder damage, as well as their respective conditions.

[check out my other builds!]

Gameplay Notes

The general gist is trying to build up and make use of Lightning Charges and Reverberation, prioritizing Lightning and Thunder damage to do so. If you have a Druid or Cleric in the party who can cast Create Water, that's even better, since Wet targets are vulnerable to Lightning and will take double damage. Several of the key items in this build are available in Act 1, which makes this one of my most used Gale builds, if only because it’s so convenient.

Stats and Leveling

Final build: Level 12 Evocation School Wizard

Gale’s (default) stats: STR 8 / DEX 13 / CON 15 / INT 17 / WIS 10 / CHA 12

Level 1 - Wizard Level 1

Cantrips: Shocking Grasp, Minor Illusion, Fire Bolt

1st Level Spells [Thunderwave, Witch Bolt, and Chromatic Orb are most on theme]

Level 2 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 2

Sculpt Spells [I am so in LOVE with this passive - like truly madly deeply]

Level 3 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 3

2nd Level Spells [Shatter is great]

Level 4 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 4

Feat: ASI+ DEX>14, INT>18

Cantrips: add Mage Hand

Level 5 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 5

3rd Level Spells [Lighting Bolt! Glyph of Warding!]

Level 6 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 6

Potent Cantrip [this sounds much cooler than it is]

Level 7 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 7

4th Level Spells

Level 8 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 8

Feat: Elemental Adept (Lightning)

Level 9 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 9

5th Level Spells

Level 10 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 10

Cantrips: add Bone Chill [I guess]

Empowered Evocation [more damage is good!]

Level 11 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 11

6th Level Spells [Chain Lightning!!! Glove of Invulnerability is essential too]

Level 12 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 12

Feat ASI+ INT>20

Items

Armor -

The Protecty Sparkswall (1 Grymforge)

Robe of the Weave (3 Ramazith's Tower)

Melee Weapon -

The Spell Sparkler (1 Waukeen's Rest)

Markoheshkir (3 Ramazith's Tower)

Adamantine Shield (1 Grymforge)

Ketheric’s Shield (2 Mindflayer Colony)

Ranged Weapon - n/a

Amulet -

The Blast Pendant (1 Selunite Outpost)

Spineshudder Amulet (2 Moonrise Towers)

Helmet -

The Lifebringer (1 Myconid Colony)

Hood of the Weave (3 Philgrave’s Mansion)

Ring 1 - The Sparkswall (1 Arcane Tower)

Ring 2 - Ring of Protection (1 Emerald Grove)

Gloves - Gloves of the Belligerent Skies (1 Creche)

Boots - Boots of Stormy Clamour (1 Myconid Colony)

Cloak - Cloak of the Weave (3 Devil’s Fee) [I would also recommend another party member, probably a frontliner, wearing the Thunderskin Cloak (2 Moonrise Towers)]

Lore and Flavor

So, we all know that Gale is a very powerful wizard. For him, perhaps more so than any other companion, it’s clear that he was once a much higher level than he is when we find him in the portal. How else would be have become a wizard of such renown and stature? Well, as he says himself: “Apologies, I’m usually better at this…” I suppose having a brain worm and a hungry magic orb in your chest is a good enough excuse. :)

Anyway, he ends up being a Professor of Illusion in his good ending, and we see time and time again throughout the game that he really really likes illusion magic. Whether you’re romancing him or not, he’ll create the most gorgeous night sky just to sit under for a moment. But his love for Illusion magic doesn’t mean that is his main focus, especially during the trials and tribulations the party faces on the road. Plus, there is a letter from Elminster, received during a God of Ambition ending, where Elminster mentions he cast Fireball as an 8 year old — clearly, he can do Evocation magic as well. [side note - does anyone have a bg3wiki link for that letter? I can only find it on tumblr] Evocation is also his default subclass on leveling up, which feels right to me. It’s clearly the most combat focused of the schools, without diving into something hyper-specific like Necromancy. So, ok, Evocation School it is, basically!

I won’t lie, a big part of the reason I like this Lightning/Thunder damage build for Gale is because it plays well in game, with lots of really fun synergies. I like building Gale with strong themes around elemental damage types, and I’ve found that my favorites for his character are Cold, Lightning, and Thunder. Fire is fun as well, but mostly because of the Hat of Fire Acuity, and I pretty regularly have other spellcasters who would benefit from Arcane Acuity more. (Also, I never feel great about a Poison build unless I’m leaning into Necrotic damage/Necromancy later in game. I don’t really know why those are connected in my head - something about Poison damage just feels evil, I guess.)

[check out my build disclaimer for info about how and why I don't min/max or completely optimize builds, prioritizing lore and vibe instead]

[shadykazama]

Baldur's Gate 3 Builds~

I've been building onto a doc for months now, a collection of class builds for bg3. A friend encouraged me to post it to help others out, so if you see this I hope it helps 👍✨ Let's get started!

None of these are my own original builds, I will be linking the videos I got the builds from. I just find that having them in written format helps when coming back to it. I've also tried all of these out for entire runs, so I will be adding my input and suggestions 🫶

Draconic sorcerer (let the world burn) 

Fun rating: ★★★☆☆

Usefulness: ★★★★☆

How it works- This build utilizes the elemental affinity characteristic from the sorcerer class to deal crazy fire damage with scorching ray. Trying it out, it was very effective- especially if you take the elemental adept feat or use arsonist oil. BUT, I rated it 3/5 for fun because it doesn't really get going until level 6 which means you're playing a basic sorcerer for most of act 1.

Levels~

-Don’t take scorching ray till later, around level 5 or 6. It's the main feature of the build, but doesn't do good accuracy or damage till later levels.

-Take ability score first feat for charisma

-Level 8 Take elemental adept or alert

-Counterspell is your bestie

-Just to stay on brand, try and grab good fire spells, replacing when they're upgraded. Like once you get scorching ray, chromatic orb won't be as necessary and can be swapped out.

-Heightened magic for disadvantage on hold person/hold monster saves 

-Level 12 Ability score or resilient (constitution)

Equipment: 

Nature’s snare- locked chest in the underground passage of the druid’s grove

 Hat of fire acuity- strange ox act 2

Callous glow ring- locked room by balthazar in shar temple act 2

Luminous gloves- in chest by ruined battlefield act 2

Markoheshkir staff act 3, in sorcerers sundries below boss fight

Subzero wizard

Fun rating: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★★☆

How it works- This build takes some setup but is 1000% worth it. It utilizes the free mage armor cast you get from warlock level 2, the extra damage of a tempest cleric (and create water), and mixes it with an abjuration wizard to make an untouchable tank. Cast armor of agathys, get people wet, and you don't even have to attack people, just walk past them! They'll kill themselves by attacking you.

Levels~

-2 levels of warlock great old one (armor of agathys as a spell, armor of shadows and agonizing blast) 

-1 level tempest cleric (can take 2 for destructive force but you'll be doing mostly ice damage so it's not necessary)

-Take dual wielder as first feat

-Fire shield (level 10)

-Stoneskin (level 11)

-Ability score improvement (level 8 wizard)

-Conjure elemental (level 12)

Equipment:

Act 1 Mourning frost/Spellsparkler

Winter’s clutches- Rosynmorn monastery trader lady

Necklace of elemental augmentation- inquisitors chamber creche

Act 2 Fleshmelter cloak- House of healing morgue

Coldbrim hat - Locked chest hidden room balthazar bookcase, have to have Nere's head to solve the puzzle.

Boots of arcane bolstering- araj, blood trader in moonrise

Snow burst ring- last light inn hidden in floorboards in room on bottom floor near the bar

Act 3 Hellrider longbow- Ferg Drogher in Rivington

Bonespike garb, dragonborn weapon seller in Rivington

Divination nuh uh wizard

So I actually lied, this is the only one I made by myself just because I love divination wizards so much.

Fun level- ★★★★☆

Usefulness- ★★★★★

How it works- Divination wizards get random dice rolls at the beginning of every long rest that they can use to change rolls throughout the day. You rolled a 1? Nah actually I'm pretty sure you rolled a 19 ;) Or alternatively just used to bully enemies; you hit me? Ehhhh I don't think you did- forces them to miss. This is basically just piling on every piece of equipment that increases spell save DC to make saving against your spells impossible.

Levels~

- Take resilient (Constitution) feat

- Highest intelligence possible

- This is a really great support build, taking spells like hold person/monster, confusion, fear etc are great bc enemies will rarely save against your spells.

Equipment~

Act 1 Melf's first staff, Blurg myconid colony

Act 2 Fistbreaker helm moonrise merchant

Robe of exquisite focus moonrise merchant

Infernal rapier, bring wyll to the ketheric fight to save zariel's asset and ask Mizora for a reward afterwards

Ketheric shield

Act 3 Hood of the weave- Mystic Carrion in Philgrave’s Mansion

Robe of the weave- Ramazith’s tower

Gauntlets of the tyrant/Helldusk gloves- Dropped by Gortash/Haarlep

Cloak of the weave- Helsik, devil’s fee

Amulet of the devout- Stormshore Tabernacle

Bard/Cleric (aka the best support you could ever ask for) 

Fun level: ★★☆☆☆

Usefulness: ★★★★★

How it works: You're here to be a tank, healer, and have amazing support spells. The usefulness of this build is INSANE. It can make a great party face, being primarily a bard, but in my opinion the actual combat for this character is helping your team do well which isn't the most invigorating. You can tweak to have more damage spells, but for this build it's a 2 or 3/5 for fun.

Levels~

-1 level of life cleric, gives heavy armor proficiency

-11 levels of bard 

-Resilient (Constitution)/Alert for first feat

-Heavy armor master is a great feat for this tank or dual wielder if you want two good weapons

Equipment~

Act 1 Hellriders pride- steal from zevlor, easiest way is to let aradin knock him out, but can steal them off him later anyway

Whispering promise, bought from Volo. I don't think it gives the option in dialogue, you have to click the trade button.

Boots of aid and comfort- grat in goblin camp

Mystra staff- wizard tower in underdark

Ring of salving- Omeluum after parasite 

Blood of Lathander- creche

Cloak of protection- act 2 trader last light inn

Reviving hands- steal from stormshore tabernacle merchant

Amulet of the devout- stormshore tabernacle basement

Helm of Balduran- dragon quest with Wyll

Viconia’s walking fortress- shar mother superior, house of grief

Darkfire shortbow- dammon act 3 only

Magic missile go brr

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★★☆

How it works: Today we make magic missile terrifying using reverbation. Yes it works, yes it's hilarious every time. And most enemies in the game aren't resistant to force damage :)

Levels~

-Sorcerer until level 10 then respec into evocation wizard

OR, depending on your style

-Divination wizard until level 10 then respec into evocation

-Magic missile and some utility spells is all you'll really need.

- Let priestess gut brand you

Equipment~

Act 1 Spell sparkler, counsellor Florrick reward for saving her at Waukeen's rest

Phalar Aluve, underdark stuck in a stone

Gloves of belligerent skies- Creche inquisitor 

Psychic spark necklace- myconid colony blurg

Pearl necklace- Omeluum 

Ring of absolute force- sergeant thrimm grymmforge

Act 2 Ne'er miss crossbow- moonrise merchant

Spellcrux amulet- warden moonrise 

Callous glow ring- locked room by Balthazar in the shar temple

Act 3 Celestial haste bow- steelwatch titan

Helm of Balduran- Ansur questline reward

Cloak of displacement- Danthelon's dancing axe

Armor of persistence- Dammon, act 3 only

Ranger rogue, two handed archer 

Fun level: ★★★☆☆

Usefulness: ★★★★☆

How it works: You'll be a normal archer until around level 8 and in act 2, hence the docking of points for fun level- but it's all worth it in the end. This is a consistently good build that pumps out great damage through every act. The basic premise is dual wielding hand crossbows and using the thief subclass from rogue to get two bonus actions, garunteeing four arrow shots per REGULAR turn, without any haste or bloodlust shenanigans.

Levels~

-Start by going 5 levels into ranger, taking gloom stalker as your subclass

-I'd recommend the eldritch knight (I think that's what it's called) option in preferred prey, it gives you heavy armor proficiency- which isn't necessary, but could be good for act 1-2.

- Level 6, multi-class into rogue for four levels. Take thief as subclass

-At level 10 respec and start as fighter for 1 level to get better proficiencies and health.

-1 fighter, 5 ranger, 4 rogue, 2 fighter 

-Take champion subclass in fighter

-Sharpshooter as your first feat!!

-Ability score improvement (dexterity) or Alert

Equipment~

Act 1 Good bow until act 2, Titanstring (with the club of hill giant strength), gandrel's inspiration, etc..

Archery gloves- goblin camp trader

Caustic band- mushroom merchant underdark

Strange conduit ring- inquisitors chamber creche

Cat’s grace armor- Rosynmorn monastery trader

Knife of the under mountain king- creche merchant

Act 2 Ne’er misser- moonrise merchant 

Shield of devotion- last light lady

Archer hat OR circlet of hunting- moonrise merchants

Cloak of cunning brume- mattis last light 

Risky ring- blood trader moonrise merchant (would replace strange conduit if you chose the Archer hat instead of circlet ^)

Hellfire hand crossbow- Yurgir in shar temple when killed

Act 3 Armor of agility- stormshore armoury

Legacy of the masters- Dammon act 3 only

Amulet of Bhaal- Murder tribunal, can kill Sarevok or impress him

Reverbarb

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★☆☆

How it works: Inflict reverbation on bleeding targets, maiming and proning them. An absolutely vicious build that doesn't struggle in any act. It's incredibly fun, but can struggle against hard to hit targets or really spaced out enemies. Wouldn't recommend running this and magic missile build together since they use most of the same items :)

Levels~

-Wikdheart subclass aspect of the tiger/badger (later on) make people bleed!

-The cleave ability you get while raged with aspect of the tiger is infinite, so don't be afraid to use it even if you're only hitting one person, to keep bleed stacks up.

-Great weapons master is an incredible feat for barbarians, since reckless attack basically counteracts the -5 attack penalty.

-Ability score for strength and Mobile are great feats for this as well.

-Get branded by priestess Gut

Equipment~

Act 1 Boots of stormy clamour- Omeluum, underdark

Gloves of belligerent skies- Inquisitors chamber, creche

Ring of absolute force- grymmforge seargant Thrimm

Titan string bow- zentyrim trader

Act 2 Halberd of vigilance- moonrise towers trader

Ring of spiteful thunder- moonrise merchant

Cloak of protection- last light trader

Bull strength armor- last light trader

Act 3 Deadshot bow- stormshore armoury 

Bonespike garb- weapon merchant, Rivington

Bonespike helmet- undercity ruins ancient rune circle dude

Amulet of greater health- house of hope

Shadow assassin

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★☆☆

How it works: A dual wielding rogue monk shadow assassin. Fun points are almost entirely for how cool you feel doing this. Relies on attacking in darkness though, so you'll want party members who can see through darkness, or better yet- also play in darkness.

Levels~

-1 level fighter

-6 levels shadow monk

-3 levels thief rogue 

-1 level great old one warlock

-1 level fighter

Equipment~

Act 1 Knife of the under mountain king- creche trader

Strange conduit ring- creche inquisitors chamber

Disintegrating night walkers- Nere's dead body

Banshee bow- dwarf trader at grymmforge

Act 2 Ever sight ring, looted from chest in house of healing morgue

Sword of life stealing- dammon act 2

Covert cowl- looted from chest in the 'investigate last light inn' quest

Yuan-ti scale mail- last light trader

Helldusk gloves- Dammon if given materials

Cloak of the cunning brume- Mattis at last light

Shadow cloak ring (act 2 but best used in act 3)- Can be looted from the shadow mastiff in a cursed camp north of the ruined pottery. The nearby everburning torches must be destroyed before the Mastiff will appear.

(Act 3) Saravok's horned helmet

Deadshot bow- stormshore armoury

Shade slayer cloak- Guildhall, sticky dondo

Bloodthirst (Orin knife) 

Amulet of greater health- house of hope

Armor of agility- stormshore armoury

Helldusk gloves/legacy of the masters- dammon act 3

Helldusk boots- wyrms rock fortress, found in a locked Gilded Chest on the top floor

Bard Archer 

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★★☆

How it works: From the high charisma to the insane damage, this is easily one of the best builds on the list for a main character. You're set for dialogue and fights, not to mention access to plenty of spells if your bow just isn't cutting it. And to top it all off? You feel strong right from act 1.

Levels~

-Levels 1-6 Bard, college of swords subclass

-3 levels ranger for gloomstalker subclass

-3 levels fighter, champion subclass (or more levels in the others for more feats. This is mainly for action surge and crit chance.)

- (If you took fighter) You'll only get one feat without mods, so take sharpshooter.

- (If no fighter) Take dual wielder.

-Take ethel's boon to get dexterity up to 18 (assuming it started as 17)

Equipment~

Act 1 Gloves of archery- goblin camp trader

Titan string bow- Zentyrim

Club of hill giant strength- underdark wizard tower stool, top floor. Break the stool to get the weapon.

Caustic band- mushroom trader, myconid colony

Nere's boots

Graceful cloth- rosynmorn monastery trader lady

Knife of the undermountain king- creche trader

Amulet of branding- Kill the creche trader, it's on her body

Act 2 Callous glow ring- locked room by balthazar in shar temple

Surgeons amulet- house of healing boss

Risky ring- Blood trader moonrise

Marksman hat- moonrise merchant

Cloak of protection- last light trader

Act 3 Bhaalist armor (potentially on another member, whoever is closest to enemies)- become an unholy assassin, the trader that appears has it

Deadshot bow/Gontr Mael (either work)- stormshore armoury/steel watch titan

Legacy of the masters- dammon act 3 only

Amulet of bhaal (murder tribunal) 

Rhapsody- Cazador's dead body

Bloodthirst- Orin

Saravoks helmed helmet 

Armor of agility- stormshore armoury

Band of the mystic scoundrel (maybe)- piss off the Djinni at the circus by stealing his ring and winning his game. The ring is looted from a backpack where you're sent to. (It's not a vital item, just a fun one)

Yeet barbarian 

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★★★

How it works: Abuse the tavern brawler feat to make the funniest build ever. And I don't mean abuse as in its a glitch- it's just a niche feat and it makes this build beautiful. Not only is it funny, it's STRONG, and fast! You're having a blast from the second you land.

Levels~

-5 levels berserker barbarian 

-Tavern brawler 

-4 levels rogue, thief subclass

-Ability score improvement

-Finish with 3 levels fighter for champion

-17 strength, 14 Dex, 16 Con 

Equipment~

Act 1 Ring of flinging- emerald grove halfling trader

Returning pike- goblin camp trader

Sparkle hands- Chest by big tree a bit away from auntie ethel's house. Can also be found by following the investigate Kagha quest.

 Haste helm- blighted village chest

Gloves of uninhibited Kushibo- mushroom merchant in underdark after saving her husband

Act 2 callous glow ring- locked room next to Balthazar in shar temple

Killers sweetheart- self same trial shar temple  

Mighty cloth- Last light trader

Cloak of elemental absorption- Ketheric's bedroom in moonrise

Act 3 Nyrulna- Anger the Djinni at the circus in Rivington by stealing his ring and winning his game. Weapon is in the chest at the end of where he sends you.

Rhapsody/bloodthirst (if dual wielding)- cazador/orin

Bhaalist armor- become an unholy assassin

Helmet of grit- cazador palace cursed body

Deadshot bow- stormshore armoury

Cleric/sorc lightning build 

Fun level: ★★★★☆

Usefulness: ★★★☆☆

(I wrote this down for someone else and do not know which video was used. 🥲 and I personally haven't tested it, but my partner used it in our playthrough so I've seen it firsthand.)

How it works: The ultimate lightning damage build. Works great with the subzero wizard since both want to get people wet. Lightning damage is crazy, and can get up there as one of the highest damage outputs in the game but it takes some setup and doesn't always go crazy like you want it to. Inconsistent, but still good.

Levels~

-2 levels tempest cleric

-6 levels draconic sorcerer

-4 levels cleric

Equipment~ (there are some repeats for pieces, so choose whatever works best for you)

Act 1 Holy Lance helm (Creche monastery) 

Diadem of arcane synergy- creche inquisitors chamber

Jolty vest- zentyrim

Protecty spark wall- grymmforge, looted from gilded chest on trapped bridge

Gloves of belligerent skies- creche inquisitors chamber

Boots of stormy clamor- ommeleum myconid colony

Watersparkers- gilded chest by minthara

Necklace of element augmentation- creche inquisitors chamber

Ring of arcane synergy- creche looted off a body

Ring of elemental infusion- also looted off body in creche

Real Sparky sparkswall shield (grymforge) 

Spellparkler- reward for saving counselor Florrick at Waukeen's rest

Bow of awareness (shattered sanctum) 

Act 2 hat of storm scion's power- blood trader in moonrise

Thunder skin cloak- blood trader moonrise

Dwarven splint mail- trader in moonrise, but only after talking to Zrell and asking for more help

Spineshudder amulet- looted from the chest in Isobel's room in moonrise towers

Spellcrux amulet- moonrise prison warden

Ring of spiteful thunder- moonrise merchant

Coruscation ring- Last light inn cellar in a chest

Ketheric shield 

Act 3 amulet of the devout- stormshore Tabernacle

Spell savant amulet 

Sharran legendary shield

Clown hammer *

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★☆☆☆

How it works: One of the funniest builds, and it's not BAD either, it just gets points docked because you can only do it in act 3. The very beginning of act 3- yes, but still act 3. Using the clown hammer you get from killing dribbles the clown in Rivington, you make people laugh until you kill them~ *Note, you can get these items in act 1 with a mod that's in the mod manager- giving a bunch of mission specific items to the Rosynmorn monastery trader.

Levels~

-1 level fighter 

-5 levels pact of blade warlock, take devil's sight and darkness

-3 (or 5 for extra attack) levels fighter champion

- (if you didn't take the extra levels of fighter) 3 levels bard 

Equipment~

Act 1 Death stalker mantle (reward for Dark urge, recommend playing dark urge for this just for flavor.)

Strange conduit ring- creche inquisitors chamber

Act 2 Charge bound Warhammer (last light) 

Dark justiciar helmet- silent library, end of shar's trials

Amulet of the harpers- last light

Ring of mental inhibition (in house by shadowed battlefield waypoint) 

Brain drain gloves (mind flayer colony in a chest)

Act 3 clown hammer- on dribbles in Rivington

Face painting kit- at the circus in Rivington

Dead shot bow- stormshore armoury

Saravoks horned helmet 

Slinging shoes- Highberry's home, sold by Gale's tressym after talking to her at the open hand temple in Rivington, at the devil's fee, and after purchasing another item and long resting beforehand.

That's all I've got! Feel free to repost, comment, DM, or send an ask giving me ideas for builds you'd like to see added to the list. I personally am an addict for trying out builds and new playthroughs so I'd appreciate any new ideas. I will credit you if you send any suggestions.

[dragoncult-handmaiden]

Sorcerer Build Guide

(screenshot is mine)

this is my first post for some build guides i'm gonna do. keep in mind these are just what i play as, and are just suggestions. do what works best for you!

General recs followed by in-depth explanations

Main stats

Vigor (max 55)

Mind (at least 50)

Intelligence (80)

Dexterity (60)

Other good stats to level up

arcane (at least 20)

endurance (around 30)

Weapons

Carian regal scepter +10

Moonveil +10

Bastard's stars +10

Talismans

Godfrey Icon

Graven-Mass

Rotten Winged Sword Insignia

Ancestral Spirit's Horn

Wonderous Physick Crystal Tears

Magic-shrouding cracked tear

Crimson bubbletear

Stats

Vigor: after 55, the payoff for vigor decreases dramatically. It’s much more worth it to invest more points in your offensive stats and use a rune arc or talismans to increase your health

int & dex: i always like to have a back-up offensive stat, and dex pairs so well with int for moonveil and because it increases the casting speed. if you're lower leveled though, definitely focus on getting int up first and just use radagon's icon for faster casting speed until your dex is higher

end: i kept running into the problem where i couldn't cast so frequently because i didn't have enough stamina. i prefer to have my end at least 30 so that i'm not constantly running out. the green pickled turtle neck that increases stamina regen speed is a good thing to use until you can spare the points for this stat

arc: i like arcane because some weapons scale with it (albeit poorly) and it does get your discovery up. we love finding things!

Weapons

Carian regal scepter and moonveil, both +10, is a must for a good sorcerer build. you could use lusat's glintstone staff, but it consumes a lot more fp than the regal scepter. moonveil is amazing for pvp and just about any enemy you can think of. for enemies immune to bleed and slash damage, i like to use bastard's stars for its magic damage and insane skill.

Talismans

Since you'll likely be using moonveil's skill a lot, godfrey's icon is great since it'll give you even more damage. it also enhances charged spells, so overall this talisman is a must if you want to focus on damage output. the same goes with the graven-mass talisman. it significantly improves the damage of your spells. it is a late-game talisman though, and its counterpart, graven-school talisman, will work fine until you reach it. rotten sword insignia also focuses on damage output, since it increases the power of successive attacks. this can work great if you're volleying bosses or pvp.

i like to focus on damage output, but you could definitely use some more defensive talismans including the dragoncrest greatshield talisman.

ancestral spirit's horn is a must, and will do you so many favors in co-op and in your build overall. you do have to progress a bit through Ranni's quest to get to the area it's in, but it is worth it. it replenishes 3 points of fp for each enemy killed, and it really adds up after a while. starlight shards are so rare that i don't really like to use them, and this talisman kind of negates their existence. the only time this talisman won't make a difference is when you're using intensive spells on a lot of enemies, since it won't make too much of a difference how much fp you have.

Wonderous physick crystal tears

I like to use the crimson bubbletear since my armor rating isn't very high given the low endurance. this tear has saved me in so many boss fights and given me the edge i need to win first try.

the magic-shrouding crystal tear is offensive and increases the damage output of your spells for a certain time. i find it very useful when i'm dealing with a boss with a massive hp bar, since it can help me to quickly get it down to almost half health in the beginning of the fight.

the cerulean crystal tear is great too, since it eliminates all fp consumption for a time. i only find this useful in pvp since it is so easy to run out of fp in those fights. the ancester's horn talisman is obsolete in pvp since you're not getting enough deaths to replenish your fp. i like to use the cerulean crystal tear when i am on my last leg in pvp, and it has saved me a few times

hope you enjoyed!

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e45

this episode was pre-recorded and these guys are probably under contractual obligation to plug DDB. please do not subscribe to D&D Beyond. in fact, if you're already subscribed, cancel your subscription.

"I done made 'em curse!"

Apparently any kind of conflict can set off FCG's kill switch. So the question now is whether this thing is an intended feature of a Care and Culling automaton, or if it's a short circuit that happened some time in the past millennium. And if it really is just a short circuit that could be fixed by someone skilled enough to work on Aeormatons, that really does put a different spin on the Bells Hells going to the Feywild instead of to the Seminary.

Ashton recognized somebody in the airport casino -- Violet is someone who does a lot of things, they're very good at convincing people to do things and at finding people who don't want to be found. They went to make sure the Hells weren't being followed by Violet's people, but they got compelled to spill a bunch of secrets about the group, so Ashton agreed to go do a job with Violet in exchange for them not turning the group in. "There were cops, there were mobsters, I may have kidnapped a mobster, a lot went down." So it sounds like the Bells Hells now have a reason to get out of Yios fast.

Violet was in town to get information out of one of the local mobs -- the Baneful Brood -- and Ashton agreed to be some hired muscle while they tried to prove that the mob was dealing with stolen and/or smuggled artifacts. "Turns out he doesn't keep a ledger, he has a kenku, so we kidnapped the kenku, tied up the kenku, rolled them up in a very expensive rug... there are a lot of rooms, and next thing we know, we're unconscious, tied up in the kitchen."

That was the most Rube Goldberg story and I love it so much for them. This would be such good material for a one-shot.

According to Violet, there were some "weird Dwendalian people" calling themselves the Ruby Vanguard coming through town a few weeks ago, and they pissed off every criminal in town.

FCG, Fearne, Imogen, and Laudna head into the Seminary to meet with Professor Ishal, who they were told might know something about Aeormatons.

He's a young firbolg, tall, thin, with soft maroon fur and red hair.

"Sorry, we're not supposed to let people--- oh." His accent is similar to Ormid Haas, I think?

He knows Joe, who he calls "one of the best minds in automaton mobility in Marquet." They write to each other sometimes.

"You are an Aeormaton, and specifically, a harmonious Aeormaton. A very particular design of the old Arcanum city, they were designed as peacekeepers and diplomatic associates, often used as guides and communicators in the city... I've heard rumors of Aeormatons emerging, but none have come to Yios before." He's heard of the Care and Culling and has apparently read "many books" about it.

In FCG's power core, where Joe stopped before, they are "fitted with quite the unique arcane power accumulator. It's far larger than what is needed for an Aeormaton of your size, which may confirm that you were created for the Care and Culling event... destructive [spells], that makes sense, but healing, that's a bit confusing."

Ishan pulls the power core out of FCG's chest. It's a large sphere of deep blue, almost purple color. It looks very much like the other arcane cores they've seen, but it looks stranger, more intricately connected, larger. "I think this might be the source of your [arcane] powers, but I caution, it could be unstable due to age or damage... if it were to overcharge with arcane power, it would take out most of this building." There's no power leaking, and it's very safe as long as no one goes fiddling with it, connecting exterior arcane terminals to it, etc.

"The enchantment technology that was utilized in the creation of Aeormatons was specific to Aeor, and were lost with the city. No one can make new beings like you. You are from a time when this secret was known and utilized, but that time is passed. You are both a relic of history, and a very unique, special person... A lot of Aeormatons worked very hard during that time to establish themselves as equal to their creators. As much as Aeor gets a lot of negative information written about it, and rightfully so, there is a beauty in some of what they made. You are not defined by what you are told your purpose was -- you carve your own path. You are not defined by a binary answer. Being alive, being conscious, free will -- it's frightening. But it's worth everything."

FCG is being fitted with an EZ-Bake Oven inside their chest. This is the most fitting end to this encounter I could possibly have thought of.

Meanwhile, Imogen and Fearne head off to find Kadisha Sumal's office. There are, like, 7 different locks, and she only opened the door because Fearne mentioned Ruidus-born.

She's an older orc with long braided hair and grey-green skin, with heavy bags over her eyes and casual clothes. Her office has a window with a curtain drawn, shelves filled with books and papers, little baubles.

Sumal appears to recognize Imogen's mind powers. Liliana was one of the first people who came to the Omen Archive, and she was instrumental in many of the earliest breakthroughs they had.

The exaltants had the most powerful abilities, and Liliana was the first one who came to the Archive. There isn't a large history of exaltants, there are very few historically, but that number has been growing exponentially. There were 12 at last count that the Archive knew of.

As the Archive was trying to test the extent of the exaltants' abilities, it became more and more uncomfortable as outside forces were peering at them. Members of the Verity began to disappear, so they scattered and buried their research.

Exaltants were the first to speak of the "railora," beings they think come from beyond Exandrian cosmology -- some of the exaltants began having shared dreams where they met a collection of entities, crimson beings that referred to themselves as the railora. The further the Verity pushed into their research, the more alarming it became, so they pulled back.

They theorize that the flares are a way for the railora to connect and tether themselves to Exandrians, "reaching out to someone and holding that tether." Their intelligence was hard to understand and the Verity had no concept of their morality, so their studies became more about finding proof beyond the dreams.

Liliana was trying to develop her abilities regarding entering other peoples' dreams. The Verity guided her through it using induced dream states, and her progress was "incredble," but it became so worrying that the Verity stopped helping her and told her to stop trying.

"There's only so far you can reach into the unknown until the unknown starts pushing back."

Some railora were solid flesh, others were made of energy. They were intelligent, alien, always in a crimson hue similar to the landscape of the dreams. Some enticed with promise, others demanded, others brought empathy and comfort. They speak wordlessly, with imagery and emotions.

THEY ARE INTERRUPTED BY LUDINUS DA'LETH.

Fearne is going to get herself killed.

......okay, he tried to charm her first.

(to Sumal) "You have ignored Assembly requests for an audience for weeks now, and we are on a short timetable." Ludinus is the nightmare she's been waiting for for a very long time. (to Imogen/Fearne) "Sit. You might learn something."

"The archive we recovered is extremely important to our research, but there are excerpts missing." He charms Sumal. "I do hate robbing them of their will... but some things are more important."

He turns to Imogen. "She was right... you do look just like your mother. It is, genuinely, a pleasure to meet you. I've heard of your prowess."

Then to Fearne. "And you... not quite an exaltant, but definitely of the red moon. How fortuitous."

god, Ludinus is so cool. This intimidating, calm demeanor, so confident in his abilities, so full of wizard hubris and selling it. Lawful evil at its fucking best. And that makes it all the more impressive that he was genuinely off-put and shaken by Jester.

Liliana has been working personally with Ludinus for a long time, and her contributions have been integral to the Vanguard's research. This is from Ludinus himself, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

"Do you feel the pull? Northward? [Do I? Yes.] Then follow the instinct. Both of you, if it's there."

"I know you've had dalliances with the masses who try to meddle in our work. I know you've confronted my associate, Thull, and I'm not blind enough to believe you're seeking entry to our merry band. But I also know you only speak from a place of ignorance, misunderstanding. I'm not the one doing this. There are many of us working together to make this happen. This is important work, it's my life's work. [Liam's alarm bells go off here.] So. Do you want to know how to help? Stop resisting."

[Are you Ruidus-born?] "I have my connections to the red moon." [Insight check: 17, contested.]

"I think your mother would like to see you. She talks about you. She's sad that her destiny took her on a different path, and she hoped it wouldn't lead you to the dangerous threads of fate that tug her ever away. But it seems you share a similar destiny."

"Do you know what we're doing?" [We're learning bits and pieces. The power's pretty enticing, though. I gotta say.] "The power is just a tool. All power is just a tool. Fools throughout history use it for personal gain, for forgotten means." [If you succeed, will it go away?] "Parts of it will, for those who have cheated through boons unearned beyond just faith. This society is borne on those who have gained power through transactions, unearned except for granting their succor and obsession to these gods. We don't need them. They've always needed us." [It's happening soon, right?] "Sooner than I'd like. But we'll be as ready as we can be." [Well, maybe we'll find you to the north.] "I think you will." [What are you doing with those papers?] "Don't want to spoil the surprise."

"I watched the world burn at their behest. I saw the ruin their gains left of our people, the destruction they brought down to stunt the potential of mortal minds and hearts. They act only to preserve themselves. So, if there is even an ounce of you that finds faith in them, there is no place for you amongst us." [How old are you?] "Old enough... you're not of faith either, are you? Why?" [They don't mean anything to me.] "Good."

"We are the seeds they plant, and till, and water. We struggle in the maze they shaped. Then, when we expire, they return to their private gardens to harvest, because they told us there was no alternative. They tell us this is how it is, and we thank them for it. We may be their creations, but all children outgrow their parents. The Age of Arcanum, the Matron... they feared our developments, the growing power of the mortal mind. The Divergence, it wasn't to protect us. It was to protect them from us."

I'm pretty sure Ludinus cast feeblemind on Sumal.

Orym sees Ludinus walking down the steps of the seminary as they're waiting outside. He walks into the crowd, is joined by the two Vanguard operatives who escaped, and teleports away.

The Bells Hells regroup in Sumal's office.

"Was he looking for you? This is her office, it's always here, why did he come now?" FCG's getting at it.

Sending to Ryn: "We're in Sumal's office. We need a fast exit. She's been hurt." "Well, shit. I was really hoping that she was elsewhere. On my way."

Man, I'm learning so many new words today.

Ryn arrives. "Oh, my dear... this is a bit far from my purview." Sumal needs a greater restoration -- Ryn can't do it, but she knows people who can.

"As far as I know, the remaining pieces of the Archive that were part of those papers included the names of all known living exaltants in Exandria, the rotations of Ruidus, and the pattern of its orientation during each flare through recorded history."

....great.

To the Feywild!

Morri lives in a place called Ligament Manor. Fearne neglected to tell anybody this.

"You find yourself in a creepy magical marshland of gnarled trees that form a web-like ceiling of corkscrew branches and trunks. You don't even see any leaves, it's just a latticework of trees, with the faintest gaps of pinkish-purple skylight that peeks through." Welcome to Fearne's home!

"Does anyone else feel like they've taken too much?" Ashton (/Talisein), I love you.

oooooo Matt definitely took inspiration from Subnautica for this

"When you look at Fearne, she's Fearne, but there's something different about her. Her features are sharper, her eyes are deeper and bluer. The ears are longer, her limbs seem to be slightly exaggerated. There's an otherworldly air about her that's just... unique. It's upsetting at first glance, but everyone else looks normal."

this is super interesting. b/c to me it seems like the Bells Hells are only okay here at level 9 because of Fearne -- like she's some kind of fey lord or royalty who's tethered to the land like Morri is.

Friendly reminder that Fearne can indeed speak Sylvan

"Roll persuasion with disadvantage." "26."

I think I've said this before, but Matt has gotten so creative with his encounter design. It's super fucking cool, of course, but it also fits very well with the campaign -- the Hells are a control party, they want to twist and manipulate encounters instead of using brute force or subterfuge, so encounters with multiple solutions are their jam, but it's enhanced all the more by the absolute trust that the players have in Matt and that Matt has in his players.

if anyone wants an approximation of this, here is what a jazz pan flute might sound like.

Through the forest, Fearne picks up a familiar scent -- the oils Morri uses, the lanterns she burns.

The find a domed, circular clearing, ringed with thorny walls and thicket. In the middle, a massive tree covered in hundreds of hanging vines, like a frozen waterfall of deep green and teal streamers, completely obfuscating the center of the tree. It rises over a hundred feet, just scraping the top of this dome; the shape implies a dozen or more branches with the vines draped over them like a weeping willow. Within, there are hundreds of small nests, empty wooden cages, lanterns, and many, many unique wreaths tied throughout, subtly decorating it. The air hangs heavy with a presence that leaves breath thick and chilled.

Fearne feels that chill in the air as a warmth in her chest.

As Fearne gets within 5 feet of the tree, the vines furl apart like drapes, letting through the faintest flicker of firelight.

The tree is comparable to the Sun Tree in its thickness. 30 feet up, it splits into two trunks that corkscrew around each other; the branches off the trunks each hold a hut, a room.

"Enter. We knew you were coming." (Note that whoever is speaking had to invite Fearne into the home -- she didn't just enter.)

"It's hard to grasp a solid presence. At times, it's beautiful, and at times, it's borderline nightmarish."

There are knit dolls, animal skeletons posed in dancing positions, alien-looking potted plants that seem to guard their side of the room with ferocity.

"Oh, Fearne. How we have missed you." Fearne leaps into the arms of a... shape. The shoulders sit at 7 or 8 feet; the torso is like a barrel; swathed in a large, blue-green, patchwork dress, there are no feet visible, and the Hells can hear them like a sack of flour with each step. The shoulders are thin, pointed, skeletal. Around the top of the dress is a mantle of chiffon, from which emerges a head on a stretching neck, craning like a giraffe, framed in long white hair. A wrinkled old woman's face, a terrifying wide smile of jagged teeth, eyeless sockets with sunken golden glow, nostril slits with no nose. "Fearne, with your friends, like a cocktail... welcome, welcome. We have guests."

She pulls open the front of the dress, and in the chest is a massive pair of sunken eyes, a mouth that curls into a smile across the torso. "We haven't had guests in a while... come. Let me show you to my tiki bar."

[teecupangel]

Imma rant a bit about the Altaïr Armor in Destiny because I'm seeing some comments asking why they picked Warlock when Hunter has a hood and gadgets like throwing knives and smokes.

Anyway, here's the Altaïr Armor (with his toxic bff the Apple of Eden):

Cool, right? They look like they really tried to capture Altaïr's Master Assassin robes using red and white with dark gray color scheme, the asymmetric gloves/bracers showing he only has one hidden blade. throwing knives strapped to his belt...

But there are comments saying that it's not accurate because there's no hood. That they didn't get the Assassin aesthetic right.

But here's the thing.

I don't think Ubisoft and Bungie was going for the Assassin aesthetic, not really.

They were going for a semi-accurate Destiny-version of Altaïr.

(oh god, i'm actually going to defend ubisoft... fuck)

Here are 2 descriptions of the Warlock Class:

Highlights:

... long studied the Traveler, mastering some of its arcane energy

Discovering truth has always driven you into the unknown

Warrior-scholars

If we replace the Traveler with Isu or Apple of Eden, we would actually get an accurate description of Altaïr. He is known as the one who was closest to mastering the Apple (Desmond would have probably mastered it more than him because he has "Bleeding Effect" and "Isu Chosen One" cheat codes on) and his robes are supposed to mimic a traveling scholar so he could blend in. Not only that but he is a true scholar with a passion for knowledge.

He even studied philosophy and quoted Empedocles to Maria in AC Bloodline.

His Codex is a testament to his 'warrior-scholar' title, having both writings of his studies of the Apple and manuscripts that Leonardo Da Vinci would later use to create Ezio dual hidden blades, a hidden gun and poison as well as show Ezio how to perform other assassination techniques. His library was said to have been filled with countless pieces of knowledge, searched by both the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order. He's known as the father of the Modern Brotherhood.

And because I love this line so much, here's a quote of how eloquent Altaïr could be if he's trying to impress someone (Maria)

(This man is a nerd and a jock. I call him an overachiever for a reason.)

This means that, yes, while the Hunter class does have a hood and would have been an easy way for Bungie to create an Assassin robe-inspired armor, I think they made the right call making the Warlock the Altaïr armor.

My opinion is, if Altaïr was in Destiny and given a choice, he would have picked the Warlock class as well.

Not to mention...

"Keep relics related to the Darkness to prevent others from being..." sounds like the Brotherhood's unofficial tenet of "is it a POE? hide it. preferably underground."

(sidenote) If you want to build a Warlock Altaïr in Destiny, my suggestion would be the Sunsinger subclass because:

The sun theme will be funny and ironic considering his descendant died to save the world from a solar flare

It has an AOE damage over time grenade that mimics the Apple of Eden's ability to slowly kill humans

The overall gold color scheme can be compared to the Apple of Eden

Use Radiance only for yourself for pre to mid-AC1 Altaïr, use it for your allies for a late-AC1 to AC: Revelations Altaïr (aka: you can play as "arrogant self-centered Altaïr" or as a "still a bit arrogant but trying to be a team player Altaïr")

Phoenix imagery = bird motif

TL;DR: Ubisoft and Bungie weren't going for an Assassin motif for the Altaïr armor in Destiny. They were trying to recreate Altaïr as a character.

===============

You know who should have had the Hunter armor? OUR BEST BOY! Ratonhnhaké:ton!

(I also think Ezio would have been a good match for the Warlock but, come on, Altaïr deserves some love. Ezio has already been in Fall Guys, Brawlhalla and freaking FORTNITE. CONNOR DESERVES MORE LOVE TOO!)

Ref

2 Destiny wikis:

Destiny Wiki

Warlock

AC wiki:

Assassin's Creed Wiki

[nekyn-alb]

Lies of P Demo: Gameplay and Style Review

Style and Narrative

The game looks excellent, from small clutter to massive building fronts. Every street corner is packed with traces of human life ripped apart by the puppet uprising without being stuffed, floating furniture or badly aligned windows are rare, although they do exist here and there. That's completely fine, it happens in every game and often more obviously than here.

Areas are interconnected nicely, although not particularly complex so far. Being able to climb to another level here and there and not dying for jumping off a low roof is good fun.

The hub is not too large, has a lovely atmosphere, and you can see from the stargazer teleport which (additional?) NPCs are in it. Being able to groove with sad tunes is a great design choice. When talking to NPCs however, I have to ask: why can't I talk to them from any direction and why do they take such long pauses between their lines when every other readable prompt disappears two seconds too early?

In many aspects, I find the game too derivative of Bloodborne. Blatantly so, to be honest. Stalkers are hunters, puppets are beasts, both appear to be bereft of humanity. Workshops are workshops, Sophia is a firekeeper (with standard greeting!), the petrification disease stands in for a beast plague driving victims mad, the aesthetic and layout of the city is vaguely adjacent to Yharnam--not gothic of course, but bridges and plazas and carriages and boxes are all so strongly reminiscent that I sometimes felt like recognizing Cleric Beast's bridge, Gascoigne's summoning spot or Arianna's alley. Ergo and otherworldly materials will probably develop into an alien influence adjacent to BB's Great Ones and the arcane cosmic.

But don't fret, the original story elements possess some intrigue of their own. Next to the mystery of maddened puppets, it appears we will come across fairy-like influences that explain the origin of Geppetto's automaton vision, which has been wiped from at least two puppets' minds.

The petrification disease could also be interesting. I am not sure if it comes from the puppets yet, maybe an influence of their ergo, but having more cause of chaos than brutal mayhem is always good.

I always love me a good critique of large companies, so the different depictions of how they influence Krat's life on the large and small scale are welcomed. Soulslikes tend to struggle to put meaning behind their copies, but here I can already posit theories, like the struggle representing P's drive to gain a speck of humanity.

Hooray for making the dingy Daedalians blow up, boo for implying that Venigni is going to be a rad wheel-spinning robogrinder instead of the greedy loser he is meant to be. Knowing the genre, he's probably going to end up mad anyways though.

P should be voiced. No reason not to, really. He is a character with development, not a blank slate. FromSoft allowed Sekiro to speak, you don't have to cling to other titles' concepts.

Gameplay

So you don't think I'm just salty, here's my Souls Cred (I'm a bit proud of these, fight me): Finished DS1, DS3, BB, Sekiro & Elden Ring, the middle three several times, and recently beat DS3+Ashes at SL1. I gave up on my BL4 and No Beads Runs halfway through because I hate getting one-shot. On my first playthrough, I beat every (and I mean every) ER boss bar five in less than 10 tries. I like these games a lot and would like to believe that I know what I'm talking about.

Let's start with the compliments!

Enemies appear in plentiful sizes and shapes with interesting models and varied move sets. Regular puppets have a fun amount of health and deal dangerous but not overwhelming damage.

P's quickly unlocked weapons are equally versatile, even if they only seem to have two light/heavy attacks each. For the most part, they feel appropriately weighty and I never noticed a swing being too fast or slow. Reassembling weapon parts can be strange because the handle determines the moveset, so a blunt mace head might adopt a rapier's quick stabs. Funny enough to not be off-putting.

P himself moves adequately well. He doesn't slip too easily from the thin catwalks bridging Krat's roofs and turns quickly. Same for the camera, this is the first game in a while where I didn't crank the sensitivity up to 8.

Dogs don't teleport. Good dogs.

I skimmed most of the tutorials because they are just Souls mechanics, but they do a fine job of explaining the basics. Being able to see that you have enough ergo by the number becoming blue is a wonderful idea.

The skills seem to be fairly extensive and might allow for a solid build once you get far enough. They should be unlocked earlier though.

There is a rewarding amount of items strewn throughout the world and even the frequent sawtooth cog drops feel nice. It's cool to have something to trigger traps with from afar!

Dropping ergo in front of the boss room is very kind and a good conclusion when you hand the player infinite homeward bones with the watch.

I like the pulse cell regain through attacking. Could go a bit faster though, you don't have that many to begin with.

And now we get to the detailed negatives, much of which comes down to the ever-maligned frame data.

Parrying needs a few more frames. Maybe guard should linger on its own instead of being spammable. Since they basically do not have to recover after a parry, slower weapons get one hit in, then they strike again and hyper armor through anything, even charged heavy attacks. This does not feel good by being unresponsive to player actions. Where's my reward for nailing three perfect parries in a row? And why do I sometimes take damage after I get the SUCCESS vibration and ping? Even red attacks shouldn't knock me down and punish me for perfect parrying.

Perhaps there should also be an indicator like Sekiro's red kanji, whose fading tells you when to act. The red sparks only tell you that a special attack is coming sometime in the next five seconds. Subverting Sekiro's kanji into not being able to dodge the red attack is also an odd choice, since you can dodge it with proper spacing. Without mikiri counter or jumps it only leaves parrying, and again, odd choice. The game didn't need this feature, considering…

Dodge has no travel distance and struggles to actually dodge. I am fine with limited iframes, but if I can't move out of an enemies range with two dodges, I question why I even have the ability. Another factor for the insufficient dodge is how little Capacity improves your carry weight. If I want to stay under 29% for a somewhat acceptable dodge, I can't use a club AND armor pieces. The legion arm was thrown right out because of how heavy it is.

Strongly delayed attacks a la Elden Ring are just annoying. Malfunctioning puppets have an actual reason for doing it, but it's not natural. You have to memorize attack patterns instead of reacting to them. Waiting three seconds for an attack to come down in an instant feels weird.

The waiting game makes for a lackluster combination of Bloodborne and Sekiro. There need to be larger windows between attacks for heavy weapons and less recovery after striking back.

The weapon durability system isn't very appealing to me. The game moves too fast for this tactical element, which would work better in something paced like earlier Souls titles. Bouncing off the opponent with everything, including weapon arts, is bad. That's not how durability works or should be represented. Just make me deal less damage instead of stealing my turn for surviving until the end of the fight. You also forget about it because the areas are too short for your weapon to degrade noticeably.

The stronger watchmen feel like they have too much health (I was level 30 with a balanced build + rapier at the end). Not a lot too much, but their resistance could be lowered for more enjoyable mini bosses inbetween areas of enemies.

Dummy traps could last about 1.5 seconds less.

Why do you only get rally on chip damage? There is no lore reason like in Bloodborne, and I doubt there could be any that would make sense for it to be restricted to blocked attacks. Enemies (bosses!) should not have access to rally, period.

Enemies feel like they have block or jagged models/boxes that won't let me pass. When P collides with them, they stick instead of sliding past each other, which often meant that I was stuck right in the enemy's weapon arm. This is particularly obnoxious with long-limbed bosses, who will just trap me with their left arm and attack with the right. Because of the long dodge recovery, I can't adjust after this happens either.

Why are there six enemies with what appears to be instant parry next to each other? Give that to one or two in a group, otherwise you'll be ganked (completely fine) and an attempt to strike back after parrying one enemy will be punished.

Watchman Paarl leaves shock traps that sometimes hit you as soon as you get up, making it an unnecessary double punishment. He also has two very fast attacks with barely any windup that are inconsistent with his regular attack speed (and another fast one that winds up for about 2.5 seconds). Since all his strikes are either right-left windup while crouching or standing, they and the grab are difficult to distinguish.

Since all his larger attacks place him right on top of you (slams and Sonic slam), he can just combo any attack from there and hits. The grab often caught me because of our models sticking together when I tried to dodge after such a slam or a shock trap. The grab also reaches too far and has unintuitive windup-followup, which messes with dodge timings too hard for an early enemy.

Speaking of shock traps, the radial burst with random lightning bolts surrounded by a ring of lightning doesn't feel fair. Where am I supposed to dodge with my half-inch frolicking steps? Run startup is too long to flee, what fires first is hard to foresee. And when he decides to do another Paarl burst right after, which doesn't have the appropriate charge before blowing up, you've just eaten three to five attacks without seeing any of them.

I enjoyed my time a lot, some improvements and this'll be a great game!

[rosecelebi]

FEH Barracks Tour: Marth Games (Shadow Dragon/New Mystery of the Emblem)

For our first group, I have 7 +10 units to showcase!

First up we have the boy, Marth! I love his resplendent art and it convinced me to build him up when it released. He can support his allies, but he also can do some good damage, especially to any dragon units

Next is his gatekeep gaslight girl boss wife Caeda! She destroys enemies, especially cavalier and armor units thanks to Wing Sword. Pegasus Flight 4 was an immediate fodder to her. Mages fear her. I actually built her before Marth since she's one of my favorites from the Marth games

Next up is Jeorge! I liked him when I played the Marth games so it was an easy unit to decide on building for me. Unfortunately he had a pretty bad weapon refine and some low stats, but that resplendent really came in clutch to making him usable. Then to make things better we got the arcane bow thanks to Rearmed Tana and he's pretty great now! I would like to update his skills at some point, but I'm not quite sure what to give him yet tbh

Next is the lovely cleric Lena! I love healer units so they're an automatic unit on my team for any FE game and Lena was no exception in Shadow Dragon. I love her art in FEH and I love getting more healers to build. Unfortunately good staff skills are pretty exclusive and expensive so a lot of my healers have same build syndrome, but I still use them very often so I don't mind.

Next, we have the insanely cruel Eremiya! I liked her art and I had several 4 star copies of her so I decided to build her on a whim and now she's at +10. Yes she's also a victim of same build syndrome.

Finally, we have the edgy boy Michalis! I built him pretty early into the game because I thought he looked cool and I like the Minerva-Michalis-Maria story and he's become an incredibly reliable unit for me. He tanks everything thanks to his skills and his special quotes are amazing

Stay tuned for my Shadows of Valentia builds coming soon!

[icetones]

so i bought the fabula ultima book, right, and on paper at least its really well designed for the most part. its a ttrpg that aims to recreate the experience of jrpgs, and character design is super super easy, the classes are extremely interesting, and the core philosophy that the designer had is based in “have a good time :]” which is nice. so far the only thing that i think is truly missing is greater interactions between some of the classes, and also a battlemaster class, both of which can and will probably be fixed with time, considering the game only came out like. last year.

Like okay i love a summoner class but the arcanist feels a little... empty? the way its built it feels like a class you would pick to support a maxed out caster class, because the mp cost for summoning is so high and a lot of the skills are about longevity- arcane circle lets you do your summon and cast a spell at the same time, arcane regeneration gives you health for summoning. essentially telling spiritists or elementalists “hey when things look hard do your summon and things will get better”. If there was the option to, like, imbue a melee weapon with the summon you have at the moment, either through simply changing the damage type your weapon has ala soul weapon or some other effect for grimoire/sword/etc, i feel like that would REALLY blast open the class and let it feel absolutely phenomenal to use. Might build the rule myself just for homebrew maybe.

Also on the note of a battlemaster class or something, it’s advised to have to combat be a 1-2-1-2 type thing, with each side alternating until theres no more alternating to do, but i feel like that might get a bit, like, droll after a while?? so having at least the option to change up the flow of combat, either through getting your party to move quicker or slowing down the enemy.

idk however i really really want to put together a group for at least a test oneshot or smthn

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms Viewer's Choice #5: Taira no Kagekiyo

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re building the scourge of Genji everywhere, Taira no Kagekiyo! As an egregore spirit of restless dead soldiers, it makes sense that Taira would be pretty good at fighting, so that goes a long way towards explaining why they’re a Zealot Barbarian. We’ll also make a short pitstop into Arcane Trickster Rogue for some ghostly bits and bobs.

Check out their build breakdown here, or their character sheet over here!

Race and Background

With Taira, we run into the same problem as Jack the Ripper- namely, giant blobs of ghosts in human skin are not a standard race in D&D 5e. Fortunately WotC has made great strides towards accommodating their undead players, so at least we can play as a Reborn instead. This gives you +1 Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence, as well as an Ancestral Legacy, giving you proficiency in Stealth and Deception. Technically Taira can possess just about anyone with a grudge against the Genji, but that’s not something we can do in D&D without like 17 levels in Wizard, so instead we’ll make you really good at passing for just about anyone.

You also have a Deathless Nature that makes it a lot harder to kill you a second time- you have advantage and resistance against poison and disease, as well as advantage on death saves. You don’t need to eat, drink, or breathe, and you don’t need sleep as well. This also means you can’t be put to sleep, a very useful ability later on.

Finally, your Knowledge from a Past Life lets you add a d6 to a skill check Proficiency times a day. They say two heads are better than one, and you… you’ve got a lotta heads. And not just the ones you took from the Genji, either!

Taira no Kagekiyo is a- well, saying they’re a soldier is a bit misleading, but the Soldier background is still fitting, giving them proficiency in Athletics and Intimidation. Ghosts be scary.

Ability Scores

Your highest score should be Dexterity. Your swords are sharp, and your armor is light. After that is Constitution- one of your skills is literally called “Kagekiyo Never Dies”, so you’d better have a lot of health. Third up is Strength, which we mostly need for multiclassing, though you can put some real force behind those blades when you want to. It’s harder to try and kill someone 37 times without learning something, so we’ll make your Intelligence above average. This means your Charisma is kind of middling- you’re scary, but you’re not a conversationalist. Finally, dump Wisdom. The only reason you’re Kagekiyo at all is because you got possessed.

Class Levels

1. Barbarian 1: I’d love to start in Rogue for the extra skills, but if you want to come out swinging it’s hard to beat barbarian. Out the gate you have proficiency in Perception and Animal Handling to hunt down the Genji and get there in a timely fashion on a horse, and you also get proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves.

You can also slip into a Rage at the drop of a hat, giving you advantage on strength saves and checks, some bonus damage when making strength-based attacks, and resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. This takes a bonus action to activate, and lasts up to a minute as long as you keep taking damage or attacking the Genji. The amount of damage and rages increases as you level up.

To help with your final ascension, your Unarmored Defense adds your constitution modifier to your AC on top of your Dexterity modifier. As long as you’re not wearing armor, obviously.

2. Barbarian 2: At level 2, you have a Danger Sense, giving you advantage on dexterity saves if you can see it coming. You don’t fight royalty 37 times and live to tell the tale without getting really good at not dying. I mean, Kagekiyo can, but D&D Kagekiyo only has one life to live, so they can’t.

If you’d rather live dangerously, you can make a Reckless Attack, giving you advantage with all your attacks at the cost of your enemies having advantage to hit you for the round. You kind of want to die, so really, it’s all upsides as far as you care.

3. Barbarian 3: At third level you finally feel the calling of the Taira clan, sending you down the Path of the Zealot. With this, your Divine Fury adds some more damage to your rages. The first person you hit each turn takes an extra 1d6 plus half your barbarian level in necrotic or radiant damage. I think Necrotic is more on brand, but if you want the anime lightshow it’s hard to beat radiant in terms of flashiness. You’re also a Warrior of the Gods, so spells like raise dead don’t require expensive material components.

You also gain Primal Knowledge, giving you an extra proficiency in a barbarian skill like Nature. I don’t know how you’d use nature to kill the Genji, but I’m not you, am I?

4. Barbarian 4: At fourth level we get our first Ability Score Improvement, bumping our Strength up so we can get that rage bonus damage without sacrificing accuracy.

5. Rogue 1: And now for something completely different. Fun fact: rogues are also really good at killing people. They get a Sneak Attack, dealing extra damage once a turn if you’re using finesse weapons (like shortswords) and you have advantage on the attack (oh hey free advantage). Right now, it’s an extra 1d6, but that’ll grow as we level up. A little bit. The sneak attack damage can be whatever type of damage the weapon you’re using deals out, so now you can add even more necrotic damage around.

You also get proficiency in Acrobatics and Expertise (double proficiency) in two skills of your choice like Intimidation and Deception. You’re really good at looking like other people. Largely because you are other people, but still.

6. Rogue 2: A second level rogue can make a Cunning Action as a bonus action, so you can dash, disengage, or hide. You use your bonus action for swordplay more often than not, but sometimes you’ll need extra speed to close the gap.

7. Rogue 3: As an Arcane Trickster, you’re a little more magical than most pickpockets. You learn the Mage Hand cantrip, and your Mage Hand Legerdemain gives you plenty of extra ways to use it. You can make the hand invisible, and use it to stow/retrieve objects from other creature’s gear or lockpick at range. You can do this without noticing if you pass a sleight of hand check against the noticer’s perception but we’re not here for subtlety, so instead of making this hand invisible let’s flavor it as a pet falcon. I know you don’t have one in game, but it’s more period appropriate than a floating hand.

…Unless we’re talking about your other cantrips like Chill Touch, which deals necrotic damage and prevents healing for a little bit of curse action. We’ll also pick up Minor Illusion for a quick way to make extra copies of yourself, even if they don’t help in combat.

For your Spells, most of them have to be from the illusion or enchantment list, but we do have one exception, which is all we need to pick up Fog Cloud. This makes a cloud of fog that heavily obscures an area for up to an hour, perfect for making quick getaways. We also pick up Disguise Self so you can be whoever you want to be six levels and a week faster than the Assassin subclass. We’ll also pick up Silvery Barbs while we’re here. It makes the Genji worse, makes you better, what’s not to love?

8. Barbarian 5: Fifth level barbarians get Fast Movement, giving you an extra 10’ of speed to make jumping over boats way easier. You also get an Extra Attack, so now you can attack twice per action or up to three times a turn if you’re using your bonus action for dual-wielding.

9. Barbarian 6: At sixth level your Fanatical Focus against the Genji help you resist their trickery. Once per rage, you can re-roll a failed save, making you much harder to hit.

10. Barbarian 7: Seventh level barbarians get a lot lighter on their feet thanks to their Feral Instinct, giving you advantage on initiative rolls, and you can’t be surprised if you rage on your first turn. You also have an Instinctive Pounce, letting you move up to half your movement speed using the same bonus action you use to rage. You can already get full movement with a cunning dash, but multitasking is nice too!

11. Barbarian 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Strength again for even more damage! You’re pretty good at that stuff, I hear.

12. Barbarian 9: At ninth level you gain a Brutal Critical, giving you another die of damage when you score a critical hit. So a shortsword with divine fury and a sneak attack would deal 8d6 normally when it crits, but now it deals 9d6! Yay….

13. Barbarian 10: As a tenth level zealot your Zealous Presence makes all your allies stronger swordsmen. As a bonus action you can give up to 10 other creatures advantage on attacks and saves for a round once a day. Kagekiyo’s skillset is a lot more selfish in FGO, but we need to pass level 10 to reach the juicy stuff. You also get another round of Primal Knowledge for survival proficiency, letting you track down the Genji easier.

14. Barbarian 11: At this level your Relentless Rage gives you the first of many guts abilities. If you’d drop to 0 HP while raging, you’ll instead drop to 1 if you can make a constitution save. The DC on this save goes up the more you use it, but it’ll reset each short rest. It also doesn’t work if you’d die from the damage outright, but Kagekiyo Never Dies, so no problem, right?

15. Barbarian 12: Grab the Fighting Initiate feat for Two-Weapon Fighting, adding your strength modifier to attacks made with your off hand. An extra 4 damage each round isn’t huge, but the only hit point that matters is the last one, and now you’ll cut to that slightly faster.

16. Barbarian 13: Thirteenth level barbarians get another round of Brutal Criticals, so now you get two extra damage dice on a critical hit! Again, not a lot, but as the masters say, “The journey of a thousand dead Genji starts with a single decapitation.”

17. Barbarian 14: At fourteenth level you get the true Kagekiyo Never Dies, Rage Beyond Death. Dropping to 0 HP won’t knock you unconscious, though you’ll still make death saves. However, you can’t die until your rage ends, or you’re taken out by the chunky salsa rule. Though if you’re fighting something that can deal over 300 damage in a single blow you probably weren’t going to win anyway.

18. Barbarian 15: At fifteenth level, your Persistent Rage means you can’t drop your rage unless you want to, or you’re unconscious. Sleep is a zealot barbarian’s biggest weakness, but you’re a reborn, so that simply doesn’t work on you. This means you have five minutes per day where you are damn near immortal.

19. Barbarian 16: A sixteenth level barbarian comes packing the biggest rage damage bonus you can have, as well as another ASI to max out your strength. All to make sure the Genji Must Die.

20. Rogue 4: We’re pretty much set with stuff from barbarian, so we’ll head back to rogue real quick for another spell slot, the Sleep spell to take down other zealots, and one last ASI to bump up your Constitution for extra HP.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Barbarian and Rogue work well together to help you deal consistent damage while still having plenty of defense to work with, especially going up against melee-based fighters like a majority of the Genji servants are. With good damage, plenty of HP to chew through, and resistance to physical damage, you make for a solid front-line fighter.

Even moreso due to your near immortality at higher levels thanks to Rage Beyond Death and Persistent Rage. And again, falling asleep is one of Zealot Barbarian's biggest weaknesses, so negating that entirely his a huge boon.

Unlike most barbarians you have something you can do outside of combat on a regular basis. Lying to people and scaring them aren't the nicest things in the world, but it's better than sitting around just waiting for the next fight to start. If you throw your weight around enough it might even start early!

Cons:

You've got bad soft stats, which'll make it hard for you to do much socially beyond throwing your weight around, and make it easier to get charmed by enemies too. Also your few spells that require saves are super easy to break out of.

Another problem is range. You're faster than most melee classes, but if someone can outspeed you or they can fly you're pretty much screwed.

While most of your spells are out-of-combat stuff, it's still worth mentioning how badly spells and rage fail to mix. Throwing down a fog cloud to escape is cool, it's just a shame you can't protect yourself while you do it.

[space-ninja-fashion-show]

HI I'm the anon :D only out of convenience since this is a sideblog, so now i can just drag this over to here and Ramble

I personally wouldn't worry much about rivens. A good one to make a mid-tier weapon worthwhile longer is hard to get, a good one for a popular weapon is pretty much impossible to get bc of how disposition works, and either way say goodbye to your kuva. The only rivens i use are for Funny Nonsense, and I'm doing just fine for myself!

(For reference, I'm chugging along on SP when i feel so inclined, and consider Zariman/ESO relaxing)

Prime (including Umbral/Sacrificial) and Arby mods are both important for improving your arsenal though, yes! As long as you don't feel comfortable with Arbies then don't worry about it, they don't break or make anything on starchart, but they're very handy for beyond it (besides the Galvanized mods, Adaptation and Rolling Guard are precious for survivability)

Working on the Zariman will also do you good bc some of the weapons and arcanes you can get from there are really, really strong! It is no mistake that the Laetum became one of the most used secondaries within a year of its release

Unfortunately i don't have much experience with Limbo (making eyes at the next resurgence cycle about this) or the chakhurr (someday i'll get there), but here's a few recommendations if you'd like to try!

Frames:

Lavos: now I don't know if the problems you've run into are along the lines of "staying alive is hard", but Lavos Doesn't Die. He's damn-near indestructable and with a Lot of damage output to back it up. A learning curve for sure but one I found to be very rewarding. It's no wonder he's my go-to frame for Steel Path, being as tanky as he is and with a condition overload mechanic that things just Love dying to

Revenant: probably the no1 tank anyone will recommend to you these days. Step 1: mesmer skin. Step 2: ??? Step 3: profit

(I feel like a fake Nidus Main here but Lavos and Rev are probably easier to get into when idk if you like tanks in the first place)

Wukong: yeah yeah I know that he's become half an insult, but that aside, he's a genuinely very very versatile frame that I think anyone should give an honest try at least once. Fun movement! Self-heal! Big slappy exalted stick! A twin! He's just a fun guy all around

Gara: has some similarities to Limbo in the area defense/CC department but combines it with damage reduction instead of conditional invulnerability. Also things just die if you run into them

Weapons:

Nataruk: if you liked it during TNW and haven't used it much after, go give it a whirl with a proper build (fire rate, multishot, crit, hunter munitions). It tears through Steel Path even in my clumsy hands. Also I'm a big bow enjoyer so I am Living

Cedo: shotgun go brrr. Self-contained condition overload mechanic which means it scales damage really well. Relatively high accuracy and fire rate for a shotgun. My other go-to SP weapon for anything but boss-type enemies

Laetum: pocket sniper that turns into a damage sprinkler if you feed it a snack of headshots. A bit of a hassle to do the whole evolution gimmick but it's worth it for the 50% chance for fuckoff amounts of damage that you get out of it

I use few guns and a million melees and idk what you prefer in your melee, but depending on how you feel about range, attack speed, heavy vs regular attacks; the xoris, gram prime, guandao prime, and quassus are all close to my heart

(Also, I see a rec for Archon Hunts in the notes and i pale at the thought of that. Archon Hunts are lvl100+ even if not with the SP armour/shield boost, and without good enough gear, they fall between "struggle" and "hell". Also, you've got a million easier things to upgrade your arsenal with than archon shards yet!)

Also, how's your operator combat feeling? What amp do you have? Focus schools are a worthy investment as well (and if you end up going into ESO to get used to the difficulty, you will be getting focus along the way!)

If you were struggling with Zariman missions, I'd say stay far away from Steel Path for a while still. Not for any gatekeeping nonsense reasons, but because you likely wouldn't have fun with such a drastic difficulty spike (not only are the levels 100 higher, enemies are tankier even on top of that!) and there is no reason to go kill your fun like that

In the meantime I can recommend trying to get more comfortable with the Zariman missions and Elite Sanctuary Onslaught if you wanna keep climbing up in levels, and moving on to Arbitrations after if that's your cup of tea (Galvanized mods from Arbies are a huge boon for Steel Path as well!)

Oops, sorry this got wordy. I see myself in everyone getting smacked by a difficulty spike D:

If you would like weapon/build recommendations, I'm sure I'm not the only Tenno around who'd love to help either! Good luck, wherever your journey across the Origin System takes you next :)

HI HELLO yes i will ABSOLUTELY stay the fuck away from SP for a good while yet lmao. thank you so much for the advice and where to get better stuff!!! i appreciate it very much bc i feel like yesterday was my first foray into True Warframe Endgame and it was VERY clear i'm not quite there yet lmao

i very much appreciate your stance on games of "have fun even if it's not endgame/skills-based". very refreshing sometimes and 100% in agreement with my own views on videogame difficulty and fun

i've been trying to fill out my prime arsenal and i've been buying up Baro's stock in primed mods every time he pops his head out of the void so far - but I see now that that is an intermediate step into the next thing, which is... rivens? the arbitration things? god i have no idea please feel free to infodump on me. i will appreciate it very much even if it sometimes is a refresher for things for me. god knows i need it. same for the recs - hit me with them. cmon. i'm double dog daring you or whatever the americans say. whats your fav. how do you start constructing a build i have No Clue.

i might even stop trying to Advance for a little bit and just focus on as you said getting comfy with the Zariman - i need to broaden my familiarity with the stuff i've unlocked recently

[sekhithefops]

Ready for Dragonflight: Alliance

Welp! Its almost time isn't it? In just over two weeks we'll be heading to the Dragon Isles at last! I was fortunate enough to get into the beta and have already worked out what my main twelve characters (yes, twelve. I can sleep when I'm dead) will be doing spec-wise and profession-wise... and Imma shoot my mouth off about it now because why not?

Nelen Fullmoon, Master of the Arcane

Nelen is a character I've had since Cataclysm, and was infact my first Worgen character when they became playable.

In Shadowlands I alternated between all three specs as the mood took me, but I've rather fallen in love with Arcane magic for this round. I will have a frost and fire mage, but they'll be separate characters so I can use them in my story.

With Dragonflight comes the return of honest-to-gods Talent Trees, which lets you build your character however you see fit... and with Nelen's build I focused mostly on talents that enhance his clearcasting abilities.

Amplification to increase the number of arcane missiles he fires when he gets clearcasting, Improved Clearcasting to gain the ability to stack clearcasting up to three times, Slipstream so he can move while channeling arcane missiles, and Nether Precision so that clearcasting makes his Arcane Blasts have more OOMPH!

Top this all off with the mages new Spell, Arcane Surge, which consumes all your mana at once to deal a frankly absurd amount of damage to an enemy but then gives you 425% mana regeneration and 35% more spell damage for fifteen seconds and Nelen is taking the term "glass cannon" to its most literal sense. He can't take a beating, but if he's fast with the incantations he won't need to because all that'll be infront of him is a pile of glowing purple ashes!

Jaie Swiftpaw, Monk of Many Talents

Its been a loooooooooong time since I did anything but Brewmaster as Jaie, pre-BfA really. In Legion I did all three specs, but that whole Azerite Armor mess and how it cost gold to redo your abilities on armor really killed a lot of the fun for me (seriously Ion, you knew that was a bad idea dammit.)

Welp, come Dragonflight my panda gal is multi-spec once more!

As a brewmaster I focus mostly on attacks that let her do a lot of AoE stuff for keeping aggro. Rushing Jade Wind (constant physical damage to all enemies within 8 yards,) Shadowboxing Treads (Blackout Kick does more damage and hits up to 3 targets,) Sal'salabim's Strength (Keg Smash resets Breath of Fire's cooldown,) and Dragonfire Brew (when you use Breath of Fire you breathe flames three times instead of once) along with some abilities like Light Brewing and Gift of the Ox for self healing and damage mitigation. I'm going to take Weapons of Order most likely for the ability to empower myself and summon Niuzao as well.

As a windwalker she's very combo focused and does a lot of single target damage, but has some decent multi-target abilities as well such as Whirling Dragon Punch (attack all nearby enemies for solid damage, but can only be used when both Fists of Fury and Rising Sun Kick are on cooldown,) Strike of the Windlord (strike with both fists at all enemies infront of you, dealing quite a bit of damage and reducing their movement speed by half,) and good ol' Faeline Stomp (deal nature damage in a line to up to five enemies and restore health to up to five allies, enemies who stand on it take additional damage as well and standing in it while attacking can reset it's cooldown.)

For mistweaving I'm more of a traditionalist. I tried "fistweaving" but it just wasn't for me. Jaie can summon Yu'lon for backup healing, has Upwelling to enhance Essence Font's power, Bonedust Brew for some extra healing AoE for her allies (and the bountiful brew upgrade so she sometimes just randomly tosses it to her target because thats REALLY useful in tight spots,) and of course the almighty Revival spell to heal everyone an dpurge all Magic, Poison, and Disease effects (saved a few raids with that baby!)

I really can't stress how happy I am about the talent trees letting us have this versatility again.

Samantha Montebank, Voidblade

I was rather surprised by this after how meh I was on it by the end of Shadowlands, but I've fallen in love with Subtlety. I was all set to focus on Assassination, especially with the 'four poisons at once' trick we get for it... but dammit I'm having fun with this!

It helps that Subtlety gets some REALLY nasty tricks this time around. Flagellation is back from our time with the Venthyr so yay for that, but also the fact that they went all in on making Subtlety void/shadow themed which character-wise fits her to a T.

... this is very important to me you see.

One of the best parts of this for me is the Secret Technique finishing move. She creates shadow clones of herself and they attack all enemies near her target, dealing quite a bit of damage at max combo points (which can be SEVEN if you take the right talents!)

See, in my story she's a void elf because of a void entity living in her mind... and in the story that void entity can manifest for brief moments as a shadowy copy of Sam herself.

Thats right! In my headcannon Secret Technique is actually her letting her spoopy friend out to play! I love it when stuff in game synchs up so well with my character ideas.

Also quite possibly my new favorite talent. It seems simple, but listen closely: "Dark Brew, your attacks that deal nature or bleed damage deal shadow damage instead, all shadow damage increased by 10%."

Yeah, it doesn't sound like much, but when most of your attacks already did Shadow damage this becomes a real killer. Like I said, its about as perfectly fittingly thematic for her as I could have asked, so Imma use it. :D

Dareley Steelhammer, Paladin of the Silver Hand

Imma stick with retribution for soloing most likely... but when it comes to almost any group content I say Holy Holy Holy. I just really love being a healadin!

It helps that my build for Dareley means that he's constantly healing multiple allies throughout fights. With stuff like Resplendent Light (Holy Light heals up to 5 targets within 12 yards for 8% of it's healing,) Light's Hammer (Hurl a light-infused hammer to the ground, damaging enemies and healing allies every 2 seconds for 14 seconds,) Divine Toll (cast holy shock on up to 5 targets within 30 yards and instantly cast holy shock every 5 seconds for 15 seconds,) Second Sunrise (Light of Dawn has a 20% chance to cast twice,) and Breaking Dawn (Light of Dawn now has a range of 40 yards) I can carry half a raid through a boss fight just by spamming Holy Light and using Light of Dawn as needed, saving the hammer and Divine Toll for emergencies.

I'm also going to take Blessing of the Seasons once I have the talent points. Yes I know its not a hugely popular one, but remember how I said theme matters to me? Well in my story he's close friends with my druid, and gee... "Blessing of Seasons" sounds rather... druid-y doesn't it?

Yeah, he may have learned a few tricks from her.

SPEAKING OF...

Shalandrae Deeproots, Druid of Many Roles

If I listed everything I was doing with Shalandrae we'd be here all night, so here's the shortened version:

Guardian Druid: Focusing on mainly stuff like thrash, brambles, blood frenzy, after the wildfire, twin moonfire, and such for constant AoE aggro generation. In her bear form she looks like a mountain and thats how I intend to do things. Keep the enemies wailing on the stone grizzly while my allies wail on them!

Feral Druid: Good gods Feral feels good right now doesn't it? I went with Feral Frenzy just because hot damn and I'm going to take Adaptive Swarm once I get the talent points again. Yes I could take Convoke the Spirits and I may yet, but I never did anything with druids and Maldraxxis and the concept intrigues me.

Balance Druid: FAERIE DRAGONS FAERIE DRAGONS DENEIZEN OF THE DREAAAAAAAAAAM! Ah gods thats such a cool idea, Also taking Wrath of Elune, Syzygy, and Sundered Firmament so I can get Three (COUNT 'EM, THREE) death star lasers whenever I dman well please! ... also Force of Nature because I missed my treants.

Restoration Druid: Adaptive swarm is a very useful spell for healers. I'm still experimenting but Verdant Infusion VERY much has my attention as it makes it so Swiftmend not only doesn't consume heal over time effects but extends them instead, along with Natural Wisdom which makes it so my Innervate spell, when cast on another, gets cast on me too (and automatic +5% mana regen bonus!) but overall... still feeling it out. Druids have a lot of options this time.

Zhan-min Irontummy, the Shamanbrewer

Even after the recent nerfs, Zhan-min is a freakin' MONSTER of an enhancement shaman! Molten Assault allows Lava Lash to spread Flame Shock around to up to four enemies, Improved Maelstrom Weapon empowers the damage or healing of his spells by up to 20% per stack, Overflowing Maelstrom lets him consume TEN stacks at once for +200% effect at the full ten, Hot Hand lets him get reduced cooldown and increased damage for Lava Lash on successful attacks with Flametongue, Ashen Catalyst gives Lava Lash +12% damage and reduces the cooldown by 0.5 seconds each time Flame Shock deals damage (and remember how I said that Molten Assault spreads Flame Shock around?) and the like.

Ontop of that Ice Strike and Hailstorm. Ice Strike makes Frost Shock deal 100% increased Damage, but Hailstorm increases Frost Shock damage and allows it to hit up to one additional target per stack of maelstrom consumed, up to five times. And yes, these stack!

So yeah, fire and ice in one big kablooey for my pudgy panda man. They may have nerfed him a bit, but he's still a freakin' powerhouse!

But yes, thats all my Alliance mains. I'll do my Horde roster tomorrow as its 4:00 AM here and my eyes are starting to do the leak-y thing again which usually means I should sleep.