got my third ring. 🥰 i feel like for most of zayne’s recent cards, we have the relationship that’s established the most. even for the events, like the current one.
it’s a slower progress for zayne because i still don’t have both of his heartfelt cards and i suck using him in combat so he’s behind for the trials. they should add companion tutorials like in WuWa for each character (adding this to the feedback survey) 🥹
Leo being put into a situation where there is absolutely no fighting, just verbal manipulation and perception games, would be amazing to witness. We see a lot in the series how good he is at subterfuge and how he uses his perception to manipulate to great effect, so it’d be so cool to really see it put to the test even more.
Manipulation is one of the most effective tactical strategies of all time, so just imagine Leo putting this skillset of his to the full test. Imagine the boys slowly get up to busting bigger and more powerful criminals, including those with networks of crime under their belt, and a simple fight isn’t enough to take them down. For criminals like this, Leo’s skills in subterfuge would be deadly.
Instead of Nick having the daunting realization that his hunt for Eddie Winter was about "justice, and doing what's right" — a trait that was already established in him the moment we meet him,
Betheny could have twisted it, and said, "What if Nick Valentine — despite his identity crisis, his attempts to come to grips with the fact that he's no more than a mechanical copy of a dead pre-war detective, and despite the majority of his haughty sense of justice being because of that — WANTS revenge? And thus is required to come to terms with the fact that he, too, is not immune to the harsh effects the Wasteland has on the average person."
Letting Nick experience conscious human vices and errors in decision-making despite his predisposed 'goody-two-shoes' mentality would have been such an interesting take on his character. To not only permit him to discover his own identity, but to better establish that he, because of his conscience, suffers lapses in his better judgment, thus making him more 'human,' at least from a psychological perspective.
And yes, I'm aware that the "Far Harbor" DLC expands upon the concept of his identity, and has many a metaphor about the dilemma between feeling comfortable finding / accepting oneself vs. masking one's identity to keep oneself safe... but damn. Damn it, Nick.