#been trying out greatsword a lot but that's relative because it used to be in the Not Used At All pile

[frowningfox]

fun fact,

if I don't change weapons between each hunt in monster hunter, I will die irl

[elftwink]

lots of discussion on the dash as of late about trying to get people to switch from dnd to other systems (filled with ppl saying correct and true things. this is not a criticism), but relatively little recommending specific games or systems. well be the change you want to see in the world is what they say, so to anyone looking to branch out but not sure where to start, i would like to recommend my all time favourite ttrpg:

SPACE TRAIN SPACE HEIST

here's the little itch.io blurb (or the important part anyway): "A high-octane, single session, GM-less, Forged In The Dark, goof of a game for 3-5 players about space robbing a space train."

the number one reason i recommend this one is that it's very easy to learn no matter what system you're used to or if you have ever played tabletop at all. the rules are quick and very clear, it only uses one type of dice (a d6, the one basically everyone has at least in some board game or another). i have played this game with people who have only ever played dnd, and i have played it at a board game night with 0 ttrpg players. the game recommends 3-5 players but ive played up to seven and with some effort i think you could also play with only two.

another reason: it's gmless, and it has ZERO prep (besides maybe reading the rules, but i read them for the first time while learning to play with a group, so its not THAT important). to me this is one of the major sticking points of trying to make a dnd group: deciding who is the dm and then relying on that person to prepare a session. while i love dming, sometimes you just also want to be a player for a bit. well now we're all players!

(there is a facilitator role that's explained at the back of the rulebook, if you want, and if your players are a bit nervous to play totally gmless. but tbh, i will say i often SAY i will facilitate and then change nothing about how i would play besides reminding people of the rules and making sure everyone gets a chance to speak, both things that by the end of the game other players are usually doing of their own volition to help each other along. often, especially with otherwise experienced players, it's a little intimidating to go without a gm because of convention, not because they aren't capable of doing it. they always are!)

the mechanics and theme encourage you to be as ridiculous as possible (with playbooks like space wizard, where you can cast any spell but only once before you forget it forever, or egghead, where you're completely useless on purpose except for one specific and critically heist related expertise; train cars filled with escher staircases; and npcs who are extradimensional dragons or intergalactic popstars. or who run a junkyard. yeah on the train in space), and when i play i try to emphasize that the only win condition is that the players have fun and the story be interesting and funny. while i don't want to just Explain All the Rules (i want you to download the pdf from the game designers that does that), i will tell you about what i think is the best one:

when you make an action roll, you roll a number of d6s based on a few conditions. the first and most important of those conditions is "describe what you do in cinematic detail". to me this is actually what makes this game so fucking great. one of the parts i always find difficult to handle with games like dnd is preventing slog. you know, when youve been in combat for awhile and at each turn the player is like "Well. im gonna use my greatsword." then they roll and they go "oh cool i hit" (<- completely deadpan voice and expression) and you the dm says "ok you did x amount of damage" and they go cool. turn over. BORING. now there's lots you can do as the dm to prevent this, but they rely on you the dm trying to prevent this. or coming together as a table and trying to find ways to prevent it together.

in space train space heist, in order to even roll in the first place, you are required to get descriptive!!! you can't say "well i hit him with a fireball" (a thing you can absolutely do in space train space heist, btw, as long as you're playing a space wizard), you have to go more like "i move my hands in a circular motion and start chanting an incantation and from my palms comes a great BLAST of fire that shoots across the room and i want to explode the security robot into a gazillion pieces" now THATS cinematic detail!!! and all that extra detail has the added bonus of making it that much easier for other players to work in where their character is, what they're doing, and what the group needs to do next. it makes it so much easier to get into the roleplay, and imo is such a beautiful way to work it into the mechanics, and it's SO much easier to involve players who are otherwise really nervous or uncertain about roleplaying

obviously it's very different mechanically and thematically from dungeons and dragons. to me this is part of why i think dnd players should give it a try; often dnd players branch out only to very similar games, and while i do think you should chase your bliss (and i have nothing against games like say pathfinder. would love to play it someday myself lol), i think space train space heist can show you just how wide and varied ttrpgs actually can be. and although i myself still continue to play dnd 5e and probably will for the forseeable future, i think my experiences playing space train space heist have exponentially improved how i handle dnd games and how i think about making it fun for everyone.

the game is $5 USD. if you aren't able to afford that, no worries because there are currently around 69 thousand community copies available for you. and if you bought the ttrpgs for trans rights itch.io bundle awhile ago you already own it! pleaseeee give it a go all you need is 2 friends, a few six-sided dice, and to get a little silly with it

[sarunohadaki]

DQXI/ATLA Crossover

Crossover week: Home | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |

And so it begins! Time to pull out my fat folder of fic ideas!

This one I have a vague plot down but need to work on it a lot to get it to where I want it to be. There are many elements of the spirit world from the Legend of Korra that I think would lend itself very well to the ideas I’m about to discuss, but unfortunately, it’s been whole years since I have last watched the show, which I never finished.

More under the cut because it gets long. Spoilers for a potential future Saru fic and parallels to DQXI and a bit of Legend of Korra.

Rating: T

Relationships: Mainly Adventure/gen, with a dash of luminerik

Fic title idea (given what day this is being posted): Earth, Wind, and Fire

Premise: The fic is set in an Erdrea that has properties of the ATLA universe, mainly bending abilities and the hybrid animals. Yggdrasil is still a giant tree, but in this universe would also serve the dual purpose of being the main gateway into the spirit world.

In this universe, Yggdrasil didn’t quite get to pick who would become the next avatar. I wanted to do something with Harmonic Convergence, but it doesn’t quite work the way I need it to for my purposes. Add it to the drawing board, Alfred!

Mordegon would be human in this. He is Carnelian’s trusted advisor, and therefore, whispers in Carnelian’s ear that the rebirth of the avatar would only cause unnecessary trouble for a world that has been surviving fine without one for 10,000 years. Mordy convinces Carnelian to nearly murder a toddler but in canon fashion said bab ends up in a river for an indefinite amount of time and gets adopted by a rustic village community in the very country that intends to kill him. Great.

All of that being said… who is this avatar, anyway?

Eleven

Up until he was 16 and completed his village’s traditional rite into adulthood, El had believed he was like all the other kids. Waterbending comes as easily to him as breathing, and he uses it often, though mostly to play pranks on others.

Personality

I’ve looked at Aang and Korra and while both of them are very different avatars, they both have an excitable energy that I just adore. I will take that and inject it into my protagonist, thank you very much.

In a bold departure from meek or even level-headed Eleven, I want to emphasize his mischievous side, the side that stole Dunstan’s joke book as a kid and caused trouble for the other villagers. He has a strong moral compass, is self-assured, and likes to try new things. Maybe he even brags a little bit!

Abilities

He’s a casual waterbender user, but talented enough to still be pretty powerful with it.

El hasn’t used the other elements in a very long time. I say that because I feel like he’d had the ability to use all of them as a child, but Chalky deterred him because he knew to reveal that El was the avatar would be… a very problematic situation. Unlike the rest of the villagers who live in relative peace and ignorance, Chalky is more privy to the dangers of the world and decides to encourage El to stick to one type of bending to keep his identity a secret. Maybe El slips up sometimes, but who cares all that much?

Idk. I’m not sure I’m keeping any of that last paragraph. But as a child, adults tell you stuff all the time and you just believe them, so I can imagine Chalky sitting El down and saying, “You have to pick one element.”

The other characters (speedrun):

Gemma: Firebender (let the girl do things please for the love of Yggie)

Erik — No bending, knives, boomerangs, swords

Veronica — Earthbender

Serena — Waterbender

Sylvando — Airbender! (this fic’s version of a Kyoshi warrior, disguised as a woman when they first meet him, goes by Sylv, genderfluid) — fights with a fan

Jade — Firebender

Rab — Airbender (Later revealed to be the Air Bison the North)

Jasper — Firebender

Hendrik — No bending, shield, greatsword

Worldbuilding

I'm not going to get in-depth. It'd be... a lot. So, I'll just cover which elements are where. No country is distinctly a specific element (there is no named fire nation here), but some areas are going to be heavier on one element than another.

Heliodor: Mostly firebending, with touches of earth and water, particularly in villages like Cobblestone with a lot of waterfalls.

Gallopolis: Earth and airbending.

Octagonia: Mostly earth bending/no bending.

Sniflheim, Gondolia, Puerto Valor, Lonalulu: Waterbending.

Hotto: Firebending.

Phnom Nonh: Earthbending and firebending.

Arboria and Angri-La: Mostly airbending.

Girl’s Medal Academy: Everything, though it’s not the main focus of the school.

Plot

I initially wanted to take the video game plot and mix it with story beats from ATLA to create a blended disaster, but I was having trouble determining how to do that, so I put it on the backburner.

I know I want to do something with the spirit world and Yggdrasil’s seedlings. I know I wanted to include stakes where countries go to war or there’s some sort of overarching political… thing. Along with action scenes, waaaay more worldbuilding for Erdrea, and character dynamics that are more than just, “I joined your team and support you now!” We need a Toph in this fic! We need kids who don’t know what the heck they’re doing and get at each other’s throats sometimes!

I don’t want the reader to open up the fic and know immediately what’s coming, which indicates to me the fic needs a whole renovation, one with a plot made from my own brain. Because I don’t want the fic to just be, “Eleven went to Heliodor. He got thrown into the dungeon. He met Erik and they ran into a dragon then they jumped off a cliff.” That’s completely valid to write with new spice, but I would like to conjure up something different!

But I keep getting stuck at the beginning! It’s like trying to wade into a thornbush. You don’t. You just walk up to it and it’s all in your face and you just give up before even trying to untangle it, lol.

So for right now…

[margoshansons]

N+A=J, Azor Ahai, and Dawn

Look, before you go and crucify me for presenting and actually believing this theory, just hear me out. I’m not here to convince you or bash on your theory, so please don’t do that with mine.

These are just my opinions and while proof for R+L is stronger and is probably what will happen in the books, I do think that people are missing out on the awesome potential for N+A.

This is not an attempt to prove it. There are people with more dedication and more time on their hands who have tried. I’m only here to discuss why I like this theory from a narrative standpoint better than R+L=J

TLDR: Jon is Azor Ahai and making him a Dayne gives him access to Dawn, cool warg magic, and the potential to be the Sword of the Morning, which I think is pretty sick.

So let’s go!

1. Jon Snow’s Narrative Arc 

Jon Snow is arguably the main character of ASOIAF, with Bran and Daenerys joining him as other main protagonists of the series. And it’s no secret why. 

All three have very distinct, very important relationships to Magic. 

Daenerys has her dragons, Bran is the Three-Eyed Crow, and Jon Snow’s whole storyline is about preparing for the next Long Night. The war against the Others.

It’s been that way since the beginning. We get small bits and pieces of it here and there but once Othar attacks Mormont it’s finally revealed to us and Jon that there are bigger things beyond the wall than wildlings. And we know that this is a complete surprise to Mormont and the other men of the Night’s Watch. 

We also know that there is little written about the Others in Westeros at all, seeing as Sam isn’t able to find much on them when he travels to the Citadel. 

This leads to the Great Ranging which leads to the Battle of the Fist of the First Men, which leads to the mutiny, which leads to Jon betraying the wildings which leads to the Battle at the Wall, which eventually gets him elected Lord Commander.

My point being, Jon’s storyline at this point has been spent 100% in the North surrounded by magic. There is no indication of him going south, no indication of politics beyond strategy and Stannis, no indication of him doing anything except planning for a battle against the Others and trying to save as many people as possible. 

IN FACT! The reason he gets shanked is because he momentarily forgets his duty and puts the same people he promised to save in danger. 

Up until Jon gets the pink letter, he never thinks about going south, but then “Arya” is in trouble and he puts NW and wildling men at risk. That is why he gets stabbed, that’s why they say “For the Watch”

Because in doing so he not only forgets his vows, but also the cause the men had pledged themselves to. 

Now, all of this next bit is speculation based on what I personally think is going to happen and why I think Jon being Ashara’s son makes for a better narrative. 

We know several plot points need to be resolved regarding Jon. I personally think he warged in Ghost, and then Melisandre will give him the last kiss as a priestess of r’hllor, which resurrects him like Beric Dondarrion.

Now, interesting thing here. The last kiss is a common funeral rite for the religion of the R’hllor and there’s another name for it as well.

The last kiss is a rite practiced by the red priests of R'hllor. When a follower of the Lord of Light dies, priests fill their mouths with fire and breathe flame into the deceased, as they believe that fire cleanses and is a bright gift. Harwin and Thoros of the brotherhood without banners refer to it as the kiss of life. (Wiki of Ice and Fire)

So, a kiss of life that is related to fire, that’s interesting. You know what else is interesting? 

The exact circumstances of Jon’s death. It’s very different than what happened in the show. The show scene was quoted as being “a bad guy killing a good guy” while the books made it much more morally grey. 

The most interesting part of Jon’s death, however, is Bowen Marsh sticking the dagger in Jon. He’s not only the first person to deal a mortal blow, but GRRM describes in detail how much Marsh is weeping, and how tragic this end really is. 

Hmmmm, is it just me or is this starting to sound familar?

Flames, saltwater, wow this is really starting to remind me of something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it....

*stares into the camera like I’m on the office*

He’s being set up to be reborn amidst salt and smoke!

And now we get to my main part of the theory (took us long enough) but before that happens I need to make one thing very clear. 

The Prince that Was Promised and Azor Ahai are NOT the same person. 

Yes, Melisandre refers to them interchangeably, but no offense, she’s wrong...like a lot. 

And while we know that Rhaegar knew about TPTWP, it was highly unlikely he knew about the Others, because as stated above, there is little to no information about them in Westeros and they haven’t been seen since the Long Night. So I really don’t have any idea why Rhaegar would think his son was destined to destroy beings that didn’t exist. 

He got the details of TPTWP from Valyrian scrolls, and based on the info we have, Valyrians never interacted with the Others.

Azor Ahai on the other hand, is prophecized to directly battle with “the Great Other” which Mel connects to the Others (although this isn’t confirmed). On top of this, here are the two prophecies of Azor Ahai and TPTWP

TPTWP

born of Aerys and Rhaella’s line

born of salt and smoke

prophecised by a bleeding star

has a song of ice and fire

“the dragon must have three heads”

will deliver the world from darkness

will wake dragons from stone

Obviously this is exclusive to Targaryens, and Rhaegar was even thought to be the Prince that was Promised, but I think this applies to Daenerys or Aegon more than Jon even with R+L.

Especially considering Rhaegar used the song of ice and fire line on Aegon before even thinking of Lyanna. 

Azor Ahai:

will show up after a long summer

born or reborn amidst salt and smoke

born or reborn after “stars bleed” and “the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world”

will draw forth a burning sword named Lightbringer

will ultimately fight against the Great Other

There’s no mention of dragons, songs, or anything else that most people use to interchange the two. Now the reason I bring this up is because if Jon turns out to be the son of Ned and Ashara, then he not only has a claim to Winterfell through Robb’s will, but he also can claim Dawn, the Dayne’s ancestral sword. 

Dawn is a unique sword in the fact that its not made of Valyrian Steel but it’s just as sharp. It’s blade is described as “pale milkglass” and it’s a two-handed greatsword wielded by the Sword of the Morning. It was forged from the heart of a falling star and is the entire origin for House Dayne. It’s even said to glow.

The intesting thing about it? Only a Dayne can wield it. 

It’s not passed down from father to son like most Valyrian Steel swords, but is instead given to the knight most worthy of possessing it. 

GRRM has always emphasized the importance of Swords, especially Valyrian Steel swords. But I think what’s so interesting about Dawn is that we get its history in the very first book, and Arthur and Ashara Dayne are some of the only named Dornish characters we get from that time period.

(Also, just a fun fact, George has said that if he could wield a sword it would be Dawn, so do with that what you will)

I think that Dawn is Lightbringer, and the fact that George hasn’t given much information about the Daynes (a relatively minor house) when asked, makes me think that they play a much bigger part in the endgame than we think.

They have ties to the First Men, which means they were around during the first Long Night and the Battle for the Dawn. This also means that they potentially have the same warging abilities the Starks do, which would only be heightened if they were joined. 

(I have so many theories on the First Men and magic, but that would take longer to get into than this.)

So, if Jon were to be the son of Ned and Ashara, then he could become the Sword of the Morning, which provides interesting imagery when you place it next to “The Long Night”.

It also would create one of my favorite parallels. Ned Stark heads to Starfall to return Dawn to Ashara after killing her brother, The Sword of the Morning. Jon Snow/Stark heads to Starfall to claim Dawn after being declared the Sword of the Morning and Ashara’s son.

Tbh, I just love this theory because magic! And heartbreaking parallels. 

In conclusion, ASOIAF is messy and complicated and won’t be solved with a perfect parentage reveal. I think this one is interesting and while I think R+L=J will be what’s revealed (tbh I don’t mind it as long as they don’t romanticize it), I think there’s just as great a story if Jon really is the bastard of Ned and Ashara Dayne.

Please be kind, I am only a lady who likes cool theories with way too much time on her hands.

[friendshipcampaign]

Session Recap 11/3/19: Who Ghost There?

Before getting into too many details with Nilo, Ditto sent him a Message suggesting that, if he wanted the party to all be willing to join the expedition, he might want to de-emphasize the more criminal side of what they’d be doing. He assured her he could practice the necessary discretion. She also cautiously asked him how into the tinctures Clarity was, and he expressed that while she seemed to like them, they didn’t really sit right with him either. She warned that after snooping into them herself she thought his instincts might be right.

After their more private conversation, Ditto waved the others over. Amaranth bid goodbye to Sparrow, who seemed amused when she mentioned having “business” that evening. She did another round of introductions for her friends, telling Nilo and Clarity that Kriv could “make you stronger just by standing next to him because of his god,” that Erwyn was “real smart and knew lots of things,” and that Amaranth was really fast and had snuck up on a beholder.

“I am pretty great,” Amaranth agreed.

Ditto went on to round out the intros by adding that Voski had a lot of magic and once insulted somebody so badly they died. Nilo joked that he hoped she had control over it. She told him he would likely be fine, seeing as the damage to the listener was usually an effect of shame. She also commented that some of his good luck charms were from opposing pantheons and pointed out that his Io symbol was upside-down, but Nilo assured her he still felt like they helped with his lucky streak -- which Ditto knew, from reputation, was almost supernaturally strong even for a halfling.

Once introductions were done, Ditto gently warned Nilo that the buyers he had mentioned might not be the safest to sell any of the goods they found to. He said he was worried there wouldn’t be many others that could afford to pay him the proper amount for arcane-grade gems, but Voski added he might try seeing if Caritas had any opportunities, as the city had a reputation for charity and would likely be willing to take stragglers from Veritas. He said he would consider the idea. 

Voski also told Clarity that the group had looked into a tincture sample that might have been from a bad batch, and warned her that they might not all be of the best quality. When Clarity expressed cautious skepticism, Voski asked to see one of the samples she had, saying they could reassure her if it was from a similarly cheaply-made run. She made quite a show of examining the sample the kobold gave her, turning to Kriv and asking his opinion as well. They discussed various “flaws” in the packaging, expressed concern about the quality of the product her landlord had re-sold her, and said they could take one to an acquaintance to examine it and be sure. Clarity was still dubious, but told them they were welcome to get the one she’d given them tested.

Ditto filled Nilo in on what Tiktik had seen when she’d sent her familiar to fly over the exclusion zone. The group then agreed they would part briefly before meeting up at an area Nilo designated to enter the exclusion zone together. When the party left the Pig’s Eye, they headed to Inner Truths to drop off the tincture sample. They were greeted by Palette, tress’ dog construct, who was staring intently outside and seemed to be on alert. Tress warned them that another customer had let a quasit in, and things were a little more disordered than usual as a result.

Tress asked if they wanted another full analysis or had a different blood type they wanted to test. This time Amaranth volunteered, to see if her planetouched nature meant her sample would react similarly to Tress’ blood, and Erwyn said he would once again serve as a control and also provided a blood sample. Tress suggested they set up a time to meet to discuss the results, and the group agreed they would come by again in the morning. Voski also purchased another two poison-filtering masks for Nilo and Clarity to use. Before they left, Erwyn asked Tress if anything was wrong, as Palette seemed very on alert, but she assured him the demon that had gotten in before had been removed.

Once everyone was outside the shop, Voski made a motion implying she had forgotten something and stepped back inside herself. She told Tress that she was looking tired, and suggested that it might help if she stepped away from her work for a bit. Tress got a bit defensive at this. Voski pressed on that if the party didn’t stop by before the midday hour of Verity tomorrow, she would encourage Tress to take a few days for herself out of the city. Tress was resistant, saying she was working on duties related to the upcoming Gala and didn’t want to abandon them. Seeming frustrated, Voski conceded Tress could do what she wanted, but still advised that she thought she was working too hard. She turned and headed for the door.

“Your makeup looks good,” Tress said in parting.

“I learned from the best,” Voski replied.

When Voski returned to the others, Kriv quickly tried to look like he hadn’t been leaning up against the door to try to listen in to the conversation she’d been having.

“You’re a paladin,” Voski said to him.

“That has nothing to do with this,” he said.

The party met Nilo and Clarity in an abandoned building to the side of a tucked-away alley. Nilo explained that they knew of a gap in the fencing surrounding the exclusion zone that would get them into a part of it that avoided the worst of the standing water. He passed out waxed cloth to wrap around their feet and legs as protection all the same, since others had reported that it was bad to touch the water. 

After discussing their plans somewhat, the party quietly made their way from the meeting place in the alley to the entry point. As they went, Erwyn very briefly spotted one of the demonic pigeons now common to the city swooping at what looked like an invisible patch of air before an imp very briefly materialized in its grip, struggling. It then disappeared again.

With Voski and Kriv donning their usual magic items to see in the dark and Clarity, who had darkvision herself, holding Nilo’s hand to lead him through the darkened city streets, the group was able to make it to the loose panel in the fence surrounding the exclusion zone with relative stealth. Clarity pulled back the fencing, revealing a narrow corner they could squeeze through to get inside. 

As the group squeezed inside the exclusion zone, an almost immediate feeling of wrongness descended upon them. On the other side of the fence, even the dry ground -- a mess of jumbled cobblestones at this point -- was starting to exhibit a dark mold, with even higher tide lines on the walls of tilting buildings marking the extent the water had once risen to. Strange, swiveling “buds” in the water seemed almost to be watching them. 

When the group started to make their way through the empty streets, both Amaranth and Erwyn lost their footing and had to be caught by Kriv and Voski respectively. As they made their way further in, an Abyssal whispering began to creep at the edge of everyone’s senses -- particularly Erwyn’s. 

The next street had settled deeper, with standing water that reached up to Clarity’s waist. The group began to slog through the muck (though Ditto at least was able to hover slightly over it thanks to her shoes), but were staggered apart from each other due to the slow going -- meaning that when Clarity, at the front with Nilo, was suddenly pulled under the surface of the water by an unseen force, most of the group was not near her. Something quickly latched onto Amaranth and pulled her under in the same manner. Kriv and Erwyn both felt tendrils moving around their own legs, but stood their ground, though Kriv wobbled some in the process.

Erwyn noticed one of the strange floating eye “buds” swerving towards him at the same time the tendrils tried to pull him under and assumed they were likely connected. He fired an arrow into it and felt the grip around his legs loosen slightly, then fired one into a bud nearer Clarity. Soon after, she emerged, gasping, having pulled free. Amaranth managed to free herself as well, and pulled out Quest’s ice dagger in order to attack the strange plant creature as she hauled herself above the surface of the water. Voski cast Dancing Lights and positioned one ball of light in front of each of the four eye buds, hoping to serve as an annoyance.

“Okay!” she shouted to Kriv to inspire him. “I think they’re distracted. Try hitting them.”

Clarity slashed at a vine near her, not doing much damage but still making contact. Nilo pushed forward through the mucky water, wrapping an arm protectively around her when he reached her. Kriv pulled out his greatsword and began slashing through the vines near Amaranth, causing one of the four floating eye buds to roll upwards and go still. Some of the vines slackened. Ditto followed him by sending three Magic Missiles into the remaining eyes.

One of the vines nearest Erwyn lashed out and wrapped itself around him, squeezing him tightly enough to cause injury. He tried to wriggle out of its grasp, but failed. Amaranth did the same

Suddenly, something under the surface chomped down on Amaranth’s leg. While she was able to dodge enough to escape some of the damage, the bite was followed by the same creature clawing into her as well. The creature looked to be a long, dark shape with a fish-like tail and a gaping ring of teeth for a mouth, like a lamprey’s. It stayed latched onto her. Voski cast Freedom of Movement on herself and moved the Dancing Light she’d had in front of the now-dead eye over to Nilo, the one member of the party with no natural or magically-enhanced ability to see in the dark. He thanked her.

Clarity started pressing forward to the other side of the stagnant water, making it nearly all the way. At the same time, Nilo slashed at the vines nearest him. Kriv touched his sword and cast Magic Weapon on it before using it to attack the creature that had grabbed onto Amaranth. It let go of her and focused its attention on Kriv, and he slashed into it a second time in response. Ditto, in the meantime, noting that Erwyn was also ensnared by vines and had been unable to make any real progress crossing the water, sent several Magic Missiles into the ones with a grip on him, causing several of them to shrivel and pull away.

Erwyn took the chance to free himself from the vines, though he slipped and fell prone in the process. Righting himself, he tried to fire more arrows into the remaining eye buds, but only made one of his shots. He then moved forward as much as he could after slipping and falling. Amaranth tried to free herself similarly, but had no luck. The strange fish-monster went after Kriv next, enraged by his magic sword, but was unable to make any successful hits on him. Voski, seeing Clarity flagging somewhat, scooped her up and placed her on her shoulder, carrying them both safely to the other side.

“You’re almost out!” she called to Amaranth to inspire her. “Try hitting the parts under the water.”

Kriv attacked the vines holding Amaranth and freed her successfully. He then moved to the other bank, though the monster in the water was able to get an attack in on him. Ditto Levitated Amaranth out of the water (Amaranth high-fived her once they were up in the air) and started to move them both in the direction of Erwyn, who hadn’t been able to get very far at all yet and who she was worried about leaving alone. However, he protested that they should keep moving and he would catch up. After his remarks she kept moving, but made sure not too get too far away from him. He then started doing his best to slog forwards as well.

Amaranth asked Ditto to let her down, as she couldn’t attack anything effectively from the air, and once she was back in the water she went after the strange fish-monster with her blades, landing a couple incredibly successful attacks with the ice dagger. Voski, watching the scene, placed Clarity on Kriv’s shoulder and waded back into the water. She drew her own sword and stabbed the severely wounded creature, skewering it into the ground and killing it.

She turned to face the rest of the group, as well as the remaining vines, and said, “Well, if we’re quite finished with all that.”

As Amaranth, Erwyn, and Voski waded to the other bank, Kriv put Clarity down on the ground. Once he made it over, Erwyn looked down at her and spoke.

“It’s okay, they do that to me all the time, too,” he said.

Voski cast a Cure Wounds on Erwyn, healing him up a bit. Clarity pulled out a flask and offered the rest of the group some agoglovra, a kobold alcohol made from fermented mushrooms. Amaranth took her up on it and, while for most people it was an acquired taste, she seemed to appreciate it. Erwyn offered to heal Clarity and Kriv said he could instead, with his larger pool of Lay on Hands to offer. A little awed, Clarity looked around at the group and asked how many of them could heal. When Kriv said it was about half of them, she seemed very impressed, though Voski brushed it off somewhat saying it was a useful skill to learn.

“They’re humble but they’re super cool,” Ditto whisper to Clarity.

“I can tell,” the kobold replied.

After a little more walking, the party arrived at their destination, a building now slightly sunken into the street at an angle. An ornate knocker in the shape of a fish’s head was placed in the center of the door. There were, additionally, two destroyed Obsidian Shard messenger spiders outside, one looking as though it may have been hit by an acid attack and the other looking like it had been hit by fire. Little claw marks in the door seemed to imply they had been trying to get inside when they were destroyed. Nilo stepped up to the door and spoke the password he’d gotten from Polly, Mystic Maggie’s former assistant: “Cuttlebone.”

The fish’s mouth opened, revealing a keyhole, but when Amaranth tried to pick it, the fish’s mouth snapped shut on it. She was at least able to tug the pick out, but the fish’s mouth was closed once more. After Amaranth suggested using something to keep it pried open, Ditto conjured a little wooden block and spoke the password again, wedging it inside once the mouth was open. With the obstacle to the mouth closing firmly in place, Amaranth was able to sneak her pick in and get the lock open. With the others focused on the door, Voski casually pocketed the less-damaged of the two spiders.

As the group opened the door, there was an overwhelming smell of damp and mold, accumulated in the weeks since the disaster. Inside, a magical globe of some kind on the ceiling flickered, as if working improperly. Moldering bouquets of magical herbs and a clear, high water line on the wall marked evidence of serious flooding inside, though the water had since receded. Nilo was the first to step over the threshold -- and as he did so, there was a shimmer in the air, followed by the appearance of a silvery, transparent elderly tortle woman. She greeted the party as if they were customers, then looked at Ditto and asked “Polly” why she had been late to work.

Kriv tried using Divine Sense and received confirmation that the ghostly form of Maggie herself was undead -- in addition to quite a lot of feedback from the Abyssal energy in the area. Meanwhile, the elderly ghost started tutting at “Polly,” asking to help her clean up. She seemed to notice that the shop was a mess, without acknowledging how or why it had happened.

“You neglected to mention that the shopkeep may not have made it out at all,” Voski Messaged Nilo.

“I told Ditto!” he protested.

“Hm,” she said. “Maybe she put a happy spin on things.”

Nilo insisted that he hadn’t been expecting a ghost, and Voski asked him if he knew anything about Maggie’s personality. He mostly seemed frozen. Amaranth went to help Ditto with “tidying” things up, but Maggie insisted that customers didn’t need to help her with cleaning. Seeing an avenue of conversation to pursue, Amaranth asked the shopkeeper’s ghost if she would show her around, claiming she was a magic student who wanted to learn more.

“You know, hoping to go to…. school,” she said. “Learn that magic!”

As Amaranth kept the ghost occupied, Voski acted like she was browsing the shop, while also looking around for any obvious remaining dangers that might have lead to Maggie’s death. All she noted was the serious damage to the place, suggesting that the immediate impact of the breach had probably been responsible. Much of the stock in the front seemed to be fairly accessible, tourist-y “magical” paraphernalia. She took some pamphlets.

Maggie told Amaranth she wished her luck with her studies and asked “Polly” if she would keep an eye on things in the front. She then phased through a curtain in the back of the store and Amaranth did her best to follow, as Maggie kept remarking that she wasn’t sure how she’d ever let the place get so dusty. 

Once she was gone, Ditto rushed over to Kriv and asked him what you were supposed to do with a ghost. He insisted he didn’t know, just that the situation was “kind of freaky and sad at the same time.” She asked him if there was any religious thing you were supposed to do and he insisted he didn’t know, seeming pretty unnerved by the situation and musing aloud with some distress that her body was probably somewhere in the shop. Voski suggested they not shock her by telling her the truth until they had what they came there for.

In the back, Maggie showed Amaranth some of the more complex magical merchandise she sold -- scrolls, wands, and the like. When she mentioned arcane-grade gems, Amaranth spoke up, saying she was interested in learning about those. Maggie showed her a chest that had a variety of different types -- including, in the center, the single biggest uncut diamond Amaranth had ever seen, or for that matter ever heard tell of, even in her pirate days. When she commented on it, Maggie said that it was from a promising new mine that was producing gems of a quality that hadn’t been seen since maybe the Third Era. Amaranth asked how much that sort of thing cost. Maggie explained she didn’t even technically own it, but rather had it on commission from the mine that produced them.

“You know, it’s really a steal that they’re asking only 10,000 gold for it,” Maggie said.

“Yeah... a steal,” Amaranth said, nervously.

She told the ghost that some of her friends were further along in their arcane pursuits and might also be interested in learning about this stuff. As the two of them went to leave, Maggie tried to close the lid of the chest and her hand passed through it. She tried a few more times, and when she grew angry with it and glared, it slammed shut. When they appeared back in the other room, Amaranth commented to the others that there was some really interesting stuff back there, particularly the diamond, which she shared the price for. Nilo made a strangled sound.

Voski asked Maggie if she was a practitioner of the magical arts herself. Maggie said she was, adding that she scribed her own scrolls up to a certain level before creating a little illusion of a planar system model. The ghost asked Voski if she was magically inclined herself, per Amaranth’s comment about some of the others, and Voski said she was. She then asked a bit more about this massive diamond, wondering what sort of supplier had produced it. Maggie said that it had come from a place called the Onenda mine, up in the mountains -- but that the distributor drumming up business for them in Veritas was a group called the Raliv Mercantile Company.

[voidtekarc]

Hell to Pay

The Intel was correct on the location of the secret cache Chambers was in charge of. To keep enemies from finding them, they only let a hand full of people into the area and had multiple soldiers keep watch to see if anyone would come near. Unfortunately for them they did see the incoming monstrosity that was the pureblood Garlean rampaging through the countryside. Arcuris was able to neutralize them either by knocking them unconscious or by bloody means if they resisted. There would be no grand entrance, only a night where he moved as bloody wraith.

With every guard out of commission, Arcuris moved along the cliff side, using his personal grappling hook as he repelled quietly below. The cache was inside of the cliff base and it was barely marked, perfect for hiding high priority items. Luckily for him, a small dust storm kicked off long enough to mask both his movement and sound. He breathed through the respirator as he slowly approached, checking his equipment in between scanning the surrounding area. As he arrived at the small entrance, he peered around checking for any kind of improvised traps.

After spotting a couple of explosive traps connected to some alarms, Arcuris cut the correct wires to deactivate them with a combat knife. His focus had never been keener as he entered into the fortified cave. He stalked the dark corridors, barely lit by the weakened magic lighting from nearby crystals. He remained relatively calm and his breathing was paced, despite being angered beyond any kind of rage he experienced in his entire life. His hands clenched tightly as he picked up the pacing, stomping through the underground complex.

He came to a large cavern opening, slowly peering around the corner to find a very brightly lit area. Arcuris kept staring around the corner, scanning for the voices echoing through the cavern before spotting a small group of heavily armed Ala Mhigans. There were five of them including the one he was after; Solmund Chambers. Arcuris noticed there were dozens of large cases lying around the floor of the cavern. He decided to try and get a closer look, hunched over as he hovered near the ground.

Some of the materials were laying around after getting a better view of the situation. They were in fact the aetheryte crystals that Garlean intelligence discovered. There was a lot of it, dozens to be exact, and many of the cases were so full they could not even be shut all of the way.

Arcuris whispered into his linkpearl, "Materials have been located. Eliminating target."

The Garlean pulled a grenade from his belt, sliding the detonation timer on. He tossed it quietly over a long distance as it made a small thud in ground beside the group, sounding similar to someone dropping a satchel in sand. The group turned, peering to the object for only a moment before the five scattered like bugs. The explosive deafened all of them as fragmentations tore through one of them, taking his leg off an sending the rest through his torso. With the group in complete disarray they could not find where it was thrown from.

Arcuris drew his gunblade and squeezed the trigger as a shot cracked through the area. Another's head exploded as pieces of his skull's gore splashed onto one of the crates. After his attack, the other four enemies saw him, and two opened fire with a crossbow and a rifle, which took bits of the wall off next to Arcuris. He moved quickly from pillar to pillar before he ran across one of the rails where carts transported the material above them. Dodging more projectiles, he leapt downwards, slashing downwards into another, slicing him nearly in half from the shoulder to his stomach. Blood sprayed onto him, still unclean from his last mission, dripping off of his armor and his gunblade.

The three alive rushed to him as soon as he landed, drawing their weapons. The Garlean anticipated them, deflecting the first one's sword, shearing a few of the warrior's fingers clean off. The man recoiled back, holding his bleeding hand as he looked to the stubs that used to be fingers. He yelled in pain as blood dripped all over his armor and the sand beneath him. Chambers swung his greatsword downwards as Arcuris' blade crashed into his. Arcuris swung again with great force, knocking the weapon clean out of his hand and sent it from the fight.

In his rage, It was hard for the Garlean to track the third one. His axe came close to nearly severing his leg, making a small nick in him and breaking armor plates around the wound. He staggered forward to regain footing then swung gunblade breaking clean through the haft of the weapon. The large man took what was left of the haft, wielding one piece as a club and the other like a one handed battle axe. He attacked with both but it was wild swinging. Arcuris dodged and then took the axe blade from him with a riposte right before hurling it into the chest of the man missing his fingers, sending him into the ground hard. The man coughed up blood and wheezed with both having the wind knocked out of him and blood filling his lungs.

Chambers kicked the Garlean in the side before the larger man smacked Arucris in the side of his helmet with the second half of his weapon. The impact from both of him made him drop the gunblade to the ground. As soon as it hit the ground, he sprung the retractable blade from his gauntlet and slashed Chambers across his face, sending him face first into one of the crates, stunning him as his head bashed into the crate. The big lackey grabbed Arc by his other arm pulling him back, nearly popping his arm out of socket. Arcuris twisted and swung his other arm around quickly like a scorpion stabbing into it’s prey.

The man became angered and yelled in pain as his mangled hand was taken out of the fight. He smashed the club into Arcuris' helmet multiple times, nearly stunning the Garlean with the force of the blows. Arcuris was tired of this, yanking the haft free after the man made a mistake. He jabbed it into the man's face who screamed in pain. He kept jabbing the broken haft over and over into the man like a dagger. His legs, arms, and chest were jabbed multiple times as blood ran wild. He fell backwards, coughing up more blood as the Garlean hovered over him. 

Arcuris looked down at the man and dropped the weapon haft. His helmet was broken in places from the beatings that it took even missing one of the respirator pieces. The man was in shock both from blood loss and seeing the Garlean was not tired from the fight. Arcuris growled like a dark creature and leaned over, punching him as hard as he could in the face. The impact broke the side of his face as blood splashed onto the ground beside him. He did not stop the onslaught. Arcuris kept smashing his fist into the man's face repeatedly like some machine meant to break rock. Blood splattered and bone splintered all over the Garlean until there was nothing left of the man's face. Only a broken puddle of gore and sinew was left on the dirt that was once the person's head.

Chambers coughed and blinked slowly as he tried to stand up. His vision was blurry and his head bleeding from being hurled into the crate. He fell back on his aft end and saw the image of Garlean stomping towards him. He Grabbed his pistol and pulled it out weakly and aimed it towards Arcuris. He fired, emptying the chamber as the monster stomped forward. Bullets that did not ricochet went right into him. They did not even faze him. Chambers kept pulling the triggers after the clip and chamber went empty, only a clicking noise accompanied him.

Arcuris did not suffer any lasting injuries from the gunshot even though it punched through his armor. The Garlean walked up, gripping the wrist of Chambers and wrenching it with a quick snap, breaking it. He shouted in painright before Arcuris yanked the gun from his hand and smashed it into the side of Chamber's head. He spit out blood after he hit the ground, wincing from the head trauma. Arcuris kicked him in his side, smashing into one of his kidneys.

The Garlean reached down, grabbing chambers by the hair and looked into his eyes, "Gellerius Rilanox. Does this sound familiar?" Chambers did not answer as the massive slice on his face dripped down his face. However, he knew the name well. The Garlean gripped harder, pulling the hair follicles tighter to where they were almost free from his scalp, "I bet you remember, scum. You murdered him in cold blood. He was a logistics operator not even involved with combat. You killed him because he was a Garlean. That doesn't make you much of a hero does it? How many know you did that?"

Chambers smirked at Arcuris with blood running down his face, "I did what I had to do for my home, you piece of garbage. Say that to the people you slaughtered in the name of Garlemald." He spit in his face, getting blood on the Garlean's cheek.

Arcuris smiled, trying to wipe the blood off of his face with his free hand but only smearing it, "Then I'm going to do what I need for mine." He yanked Chambers by the hair, dragging him through the dirt as he struggled to get out of Arcuris' grip. He weakly punched and kicked against the Garlean but it did him no good. He was pulled to back to the outside of the mines where it was dark outside. The storm died down and it left a cloudy dark night overhead.

Arcuris stared down to the Ala Mhigan who in turn looked to the ground, in pain with blood trickling from his head on to the ground. Arcuris looked up to the night sky before looking down to his captive, "What did you think of doing here? Go out in some glorious blaze by using the crystals to make a primal? I'm sure the maggot food formerly known as Ilberd would be so proud of you all."

"Go to hell." He was tired, weak, and not wanting to entertain the Garlean.

He grinned as he kept staring down Chambers, "So this is where your story ends." He pulled the shotgun he had on his back and pointed it at the chest of Chambers from about a foot away, "I want them to know who you are when I kill you. I at least need keep your face intact." He grinned and stared to the man's eyes as he looked up weakly.

In his last act of defiance Chambers smiled and spoke, "Fuck y-"

The shotgun went off, blasting an enormous, gaping hole into the chest of Chambers. Blood splattered on the ground behind him as did a good bit of his insides. Chambers choked on his own blood as it poured from his mouth.He fell back into his own pool of gore, his eyes sliding shut. It was quiet for a few moments as Arcuris looked down to the corpse of the one that killed his brother as the wind howled in the canyons.

"No, fuck you." He grinned evilly, getting that sweet revenge he had be longing for years. He placed the shotgun in his back holster as he kept staring to the dead man.

He contacted his commanders and spoke once more, "Chambers is dead."

"Do not destroy the crystals. We need them for research and development." They responded.

He listened to their orders and raised a brow as he walked back into the cavern, "What? Why are we keeping the aetheryte?"

"Orders from command. We'll send a team to retrieve them when we can."

Arcuris shook his no in dismissal, disagreeing with the entirety of the order given to him, "They will be back to retrieve the material before we can get someone out here to collect it!"

"Those are the orders, Arcuris. Stay and secure the site."

The pureblood huffed heavily, expending the last patience he had. He knew what was best, damned be command. Before they could respond one more time, he tossed out the linkpearl from his ear. He walked back into the cavern, stomping through back through the bloody warzone he left behind. He went about Setting up plenty of explosives around all of the crates, making sure none of the crystals were able to be recovered.

The explosives destroyed everything inside of the cavern, leaving nothing intact. Arcuris made sure his work was done and it was completed well. As he looked to the entrance that was now collapsed and the crystals destroyed within, he sighed and looked up to the sky once more. He stood near the man who haunted him for years who was now dead in the sand only a few feet away. In his defiance, he knew there was going to be repercussions.

[soulsborne]

What I’ll miss when we all go back to Dark Souls

Now that there’s been 2 Souls games (and Bloodborne) released since the original Dark Souls came out, the series has seen a number of ease of use considerations that will unfortunately be reverted when the remaster comes out. One of the more important ones — the password matchmaking system — will thankfully (mercifully) make a return, but here are some things from the newer games I’ll miss:

Improved user interface

Dark Souls did away with Demon’s Souls incredibly annoying item burden mechanic, which limited the amount of items you can carry with you at any given time. What that means as a result however is that you naturally end up carrying your entire item collection with you at any given time.

This can be alleviated by depositing unneeded items in your bottomless box (or selling them to Frampt when it becomes possible), and works well for weapons and shields that you’ll never use because you simply aren’t specced for them. This can be annoying if you want to sift through armor of course (I like to be able to put on a variety of armor, wouldn’t want to deposit any of it), but you shouldn’t be doing that under duress anyway.

Where the grid menu system becomes a godsend is in your consumables inventory. I’m doing a playthrough of Scholar of the First Sin on PS4 right now and have needed to dip into my consumables a fair amount, from needing to cure poison with moss and even a Divine Blessing once or twice to needing to raise my item discovery when hunting for a Gyrm Greatshield.

When you can quickly jump around the grid it’s a quick in-and-out, but when you’re trying to find a consumable in a relatively small list view and you need to keep them in your inventory in case you end up needing them between bonfires, you can see why the newer games, save for Bloodborne, have opted for a grid interface. Bloodborne to its credit though offers you a secondary item menu and doesn’t go overboard with differing status effects.

Replenishing durability

I’ve discussed the durability systems in a previous post, but it’s really great to be able to ignore repairing items unless a weapon or item actually breaks. The replenishing durability system reinforces the concept of gameplay existing between bonfires. An effect that persists after resting, in this case the durability state of the weapon, seems to contradict this philosophy and was not a welcome return in Bloodborne. Dark Souls III made the smart choice to bring it over from Dark Souls II, and when we return to Lordran proper, I’ll be sad to see the old system back.

Dual-wielding / Powerstancing

You could always off-hand a weapon, some weapons in the first Dark Souls even have specific off-hand traits, but where Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III differ is in officially incorporating dual-wielding as opposed to just wielding two weapons simultaneously. In Dark Souls II, if you met 150% of the requirements of both weapons in your hands, barring some combinations, you could hold down the two-handed button and enter a powerstance instead. This turned your left bumpers and triggers into attacks and combos that used both weapons at the same time.

This system was unfortunately dropped in Dark Souls III, instead opting for a less complicated and fluid, but still interesting set of specifically dual-wield weapons, which traded the ability to two-hand for the ability to wield two of the same weapon.

I think the powerstance system was a superior system due to its flexibility — different infusions and different types of weapons (i.e. swords and daggers) could be associated with your chosen combination — but I can see why this system was confusing and that there is a strategic benefit to being able to press one button to go from sword/shield to dual-wielding, rather than having to change your off-hand, and then hold the two-handed button to power-stance.

Dual-wielding helped players step outside of their reliance on shields, a mindset fully embraced by Bloodborne that has its own system of weapon transformations that somewhat resembles the powerstance system in Dark Souls II. It also greatly expanded the build variety, since every weapon could be relied on itself with a shield, or paired up with another weapon, often back and forth if the situation calls for it.

Using multiple copies of the same item at once

This is really useful for soul items, especially when the game gives you a plethora of low-value ones (which tend to be littered around in dangerous areas to entice the player without rewarding them too much). This is a godsend when it comes to turning in covenant items, which build up and have to be turned in for advancing rank.

This is egregious in Dark Souls. The shortcut in Lost Izalith requires +2 rank in the Chaos Servant covenant which is awarded after a staggering 30 humanity, which has to be turned in

one

at

a

time.

Humanity isn’t hard to come by. The game gives you numerous avenues to acquire it. You’re likely going to build up more than a few — possibly even all 30 — by the time you come to turn them in. There are a lot of unfriendly attributes of the Souls games that are a certain way on purpose, because they introduce challenge. You can’t pause, you can’t interrupt attack animations, etc. This is not one of them. There is no challenge to overcome by pressing the interact button over and over again. All the changes to Dark Souls I’ve mentioned prior are arguable to say they’re better, but I sincerely believe that this is a bad design decision and will be a shame to have to come back to.

Image credit: Undead Asylum: http://darksouls.wikia.com/wiki/Northern_Undead_Asylum Dark Souls III UI: http://www.gameandtype.com/2016/08/05/the-evolution-of-soulsborne-ui/ Dual-wielding Smelter Demon Greatswords: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=322179696

[tk-duveraun]

Sweet Dreams 7/?

Title: Sweet Dreams Setting: Modern Thedas Rating: PG-13 For Strong Language   Genre: Friendship & Adventure, minor Romance elements Pairings: (All relatively background) Ela/Cullen, Doribull Summary: For @elalavella. Ela’s been having vivid nightmares that are starting to feel far too real when the companions she has in the nightmares appear in her real life. She thought it was supposed to be the other way around! Previous Parts: One Two Three Four Five Six  Warnings: Mild violence and gore

The greatsword was heavy in Ela’s hands, but her arms didn’t hurt from carrying it. At least, not that she noticed. She kept her attention split equally between Cole and the eerie landscape they crept slowly across. The ground was scarred and torn from her assault as the Inquisitor. They hadn’t been able to defeat the Nightmare at the peak of their power and with the Mark on her hand. She couldn’t imagine them beating it now. “Green. Blinding, choking, shaking, tearing. You were weighed down by a lot, then,” Cole said. He tilted his head back, again showing off the unnatural eyes of blue fire. “Your body isn’t here this time. Only the important parts.” “I think what Cole is trying to say is that we have the same combat abilities we had before but we aren’t weighed down by our physical forms,” Dorian said. The mage strutted forward without fear. The end of his staff was lit with a soft purple glow and wisps of magic floated in the air around his head. “I’m glad someone understands this demon crap,” The Iron Bull muttered. He walked just behind Ela and in her peripheral vision, she could see his horns move as he turned his head to scout the area. “At least you have two eyes this time,” Ela said. “Do I want to know?” The Iron Bull asked. “No you bloody well don’t. You just want to wake up.” Sera pulled back the string of her bow, aiming around The Iron Bull’s shoulders at shadows. “Sera, Sera, Sera… If you shoot me, I’ll know where you are,” the Nightmare demon said. Its voice echoed against the black rock as well as the empty air and the inside of their heads. Ela fought back a shiver as the voice pierced her chest. She shifted the weight of her sword to her left hand and worried in the back of her mind that her arms were going to start aching. “You’re not real. You don’t have muscles to ache.” “So, Cole, are you going to help us fight this Nightmare or are you just moral support?” Dorian asked. Daggers appeared in Cole’s hands and then disappeared in the next second. That was his only response. “I don’t like this, Boss. I can’t hear anything. Not even our footsteps.” Ela froze mid-step. Once The Iron Bull mentioned it, it was impossible to forget. Her clothes made no sound as they rustled with movement. She swayed her arms and twisted in place, but still nothing, even when she scraped her sandals on the ground. “Thanks for making it a hundred times worse, Bull! Love you, too!” “Already shitballs with the demons, Elalaland,” Sera said. “Something’s coming. I can feel it,” Dorian said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he preened and fanned himself. “Look at that, I noticed something before you did, Bull.” The Iron Bull hefted his greataxe and turned in the direction Dorian pointed. As soon as he did, the seemingly-solid rockwall exploded in a wet spray of ichor and poison. Spiders spilled out of the opening, crawling over each other. The clicking from their mandible was nearly loud enough to drown out the pounding of Ela’s heart in her ears. She swallowed, took a deep breath and charged forward with her sword raised. She was terrified of spiders. She had to call in reinforcements for the tiniest, most benign harvestman, but in the Fade, with the memories of the Inquisition and how much was on the line, her fear of spiders meant little. She remembered fighting dragons and drinking a distillation of their blood. Spiders meant nothing. Little chittering, skittering, biting things with furry legs and slimy carapaces should know that she has a world to save and no time to be afraid of their black blood and too many eyes. Ela slashed the legs out from under one and sensed The Iron Bull at her right hand, doing the same. Arrows flew through the air and pierced clustered eyes with sprays of wet gore and unsettlingly hollow thunks. The air pressure shifted with low whooshes and jarring screams as Dorian launched fireballs and bolts of lightning from his created staff. “Haha! I could do this all day! Why did we ever solidify the Veil, anyway?” Dorian asked. “Might be the demons,” The Iron Bull said between heavy swings of his axe, “or the possession or the abominations…” When the spiders were dead, Dorian lit their corpses on fire. Thankfully, instead of the horrific, rancid stench of burning hair and chitin, the spiders flared almost instantly into odorless ash that dissolved into the vast nothingness of the Fade. Ela leaned her sword against a rock just so she could rub warm into her bare arms, chilled as she was by the sight. However, she didn’t leave the sword for long, picking it up back up in less than a minute. For his part, Dorian was pouting at The Iron Bull. “Well when you put it that way, weakening the Veil sounds like a terrible idea. You don’t have to ruin it. I wasn’t exactly planning to build a vacation home here.” Dorian’s tone was petulant on the surface, but thanks to Ela’s refreshed memories of his past self, she heard the undercurrent of fear and desperation behind his attempts at levity. A few miniscule spiderlings scratched and bit at Ela’s feet, but either their attacks were too weak or her feet were thick with the Dalish calluses her past-self had, because they didn’t break the skin and Ela had much bigger problems than them. Literally. She couldn’t see the Nightmare demon, but she could feel it and she remembered how large it was. Remembered Hawke insisting that she let him stay behind to fight the demon alone. She hadn’t wanted to leave anyone behind. No one deserved to die alone in the Fade. The only reason she hadn’t dragged Stroud kicking and screaming through the Rift behind her was because she knew he didn’t have much time left anyway, being a Warden. And death by Nightmare was probably better than possessed by Corypheus. At least, that’s what she had told herself while crying into Cullen’s shoulder during some of the many sleepless nights in Skyhold. Oh but she hoped the Golden Lion contact really was Cullen. He was a different person, yes, but The Iron Bull and Dorian had found each other and things seemed to be going well. “Yes, Ada’alvhen. Things always seem to go well for you, don’t they? And then they come across deep water.”

[nordiixa-blog]

@drachenheld.

As King of the Netherlands, Siegfried didn’t had a single moment where he could rest for a moment unless it was already past the time the moon rised in the skies. He didn’t mind it at all, he even understood why his parents were never with him a lot of times when he was just a young prince. Just as he was going to sit for a moment and enjoy dinner with his beloved wife, Kriemhild, a knight rushed through the doors searching for the Hero King.

 “M-my king…! They have arrived…!” The knight says in a hurried tone, his armor was covered in blood and his helm was broken, letting Siegfried see his horrified expression.

“Who…? Please tell me!” Siegfried stands up and puts his hand on the knight’s shoulder, trying to calm him, even a bit.

“The northmen…! The northmen have arrived using the Rhine…!”

He says, tears shedding from his eyes as he remembered the boats being sighted for a moment and how suddenly hellfire was covering the shore.

“What are we going to do?” One of the royal servants that held the wine asked Siegfried, terror could be seen in her face.

Anyone knew of the Nordic Tribes and the raids they commited in the enterity of the continent, not even the Saxons or the Franks were safe, the Netherlands was not safe either, apparently. Even Bungurdy was raided, thanks to Gunther’s letter that arrived 5 suns before. Siegfried looked at the ceiling for a moment, to that even with the tellings of the Black Dragon that protected the country they were reckless enough to try, one could ask if they were even sane in the first place.

“….” The Hero King remained quiet for a few seconds, looked to his beloved Kriemhild who crossed her arms as she was trying to meditate on what to do in this situation. Siegfried knew what needed to be done.

 “Gather all the knights immediatly, we knew they would come one of these days, we are ready to fight them. I will gather the elite troops from their barracks, prepare for battle!” Siegfried held his head high, he couldn’t allow such a thing to occur to his kingdom, all the things he had done, they wouldn’t be thrown away just because of some northern tribes.

.

.

.

Just as the knights were grouped on the main hall of the castle, Siegfried looked at them, his gaze didn’t had the unhappiness that he had developed these last weeks, but instead his eyes were burning with a sense of duty.

Some of the knights present had bandages covering their broken limbs and even one of them was handicapped with his arm cut clean. They had a story of fighting the Norsemen by now.

[Background Music: The Watershed of History]

My friends, we are under attack of the Nordic Tribes. They have arrived using the Rhine in the middle of the night to avoid being detected by our scouts and attacked the coastline, right now I do not know if they are marching forward, our troops are coming back to the citadel right now as we speak.

I know some of you are tired and even have wounds to this day after our successful back-up suprise attack in the kingdom of Bungurdy after one of their raids reaching our allies.

But we have to fight once again against them, I took the chance to kill one of their generals back then, but I do not know the identity of the new one, so we must be cautious at all time. I will lead the main group once again and Ailbern will lead the second unit, Dietz will command our archers that are currently movilizing the main buildings so we can take them by surprise once they reach the main doors.

We cannot fail here, our country, our families are in danger if they gain control of the city. I plead to you we put our all in this battle, we will show them that waging war against the Netherlands is a bad choice. We will show them that once you awake the fury of the Black Dragon you will regret doing so.

“ONWARD!”

Unsheathing his greatsword and holding it high, he made a scream that was then followed by the other soldiers and knights that howled on unison, they rushed towards the castle’s door and took their positions, this time they won’t take them by surprise like in Gunther’s kingdom.

“Hah!” Cutting down soldier by soldier, Siegfried and his group stood firm against the Nordic hordes that rushed towards them, he was used to fighting them at this point, even before becoming king he was requested with repeling Norse raids from small villages that surrounded the main citadel. They were brute and had powerful axes with them, capable of tearing down armor with relatively ease it was frightening.

The battlefield was even for both sides, both armies having their casualties, which he lamented. He personally knew each one of his soldiers and having to tell their families that they had died on batte was such a hard task, even as a knight he knew that, and now that he was king the feeling was even a more toll burden to bear. But, that gave him the resolve to go and win this battle and stop the northern tribes from terrorizing his homeland. Siegfried made a step that was more akin of a burst of power, tearing apart the enemies that were on his way.

After getting enough terrain, Siegfried stood in front of his brothers-in-arms, he looked back at them and smiled, they were counting on his King, they knew he would bring them to victory once again, he was Siegfried, Hero of the Nibelungen and Slayer of Fafnir. He couldn’t let them down.

“Sword— Lend me your power!” With the chanting, a powerful golden-like aura surrounded Siegfried, holding the sword above his head, he prepared his ultimate attack, the one he had fell the Evil Dragon Fafnir.

                      Balmung, Felling Sword of the Sky Demon. A symbol of Siegfried’s power, his feat of defeating the Black Dragon and his kingdom’s light of hope, he would erradicate this threat once and for all.

“Oh sword, let thee be filled...

                                               Balmun—!?”

Just as Siegfried was ready to release the attack, a mythril lance hit his greatsword, making it shake violently, with Siegfried out of focus, the divine sword quickly loses the golden shine that covered it. Almost immediatly, the spear makes way with demonic speed to his throat, not losing time Siegfried slashes, making steel hit steel with enough power to send sparks flying.

Their general!? Siegfried thought as the spear was so close of his neck, quickly analyzing the new opponent’s armor. Wing-like diadem, tall slender figure that was covered with a deep blue armor, and a shield on the right arm.

Shieldmaiden, Valkyrie. He had heard from them when traveling the kingdom when he was just a Esquire. Female warriors that were supposedly sent by the Elder God Odin to find suitable warriors for Valhalla, often they were seen during the battlefield commanding the armies, and most of the time they were victorious.

But he wouldn’t just accept this with crossed arms, he had to protect his people, his family. If he had to defeat a demigoddess like her to protect his people, then he will do it, he had to do it.

✕     Brynhildr and a few of her many younger sisters flew over the longships as they sailed down the Rhine from the southern sea, divine daughters of giantesses and gods soaring and playing among the clouds overhead, unseen by the warriors and shieldmaidens below. The Valkyries would only be seen when fate determined, their appearance both feared and wished her by the warriors beneath them in the ships. 

This land of Saxony was... soft. Rolling hills, beautiful mountains --- and so green. So green and lush and obviously fertile. The Northmen would have liked to have settled these lands if they were not already filled with so many of the Germanic peoples. Indeed, they would only raid here. There were better places to settle to the west, in Wessex and Mercia; where the inhabitants were far easier to defeat in a raid than here. When the horns blared, Brynhildr spun and swooped down from the clouds with her spear in hand, shield on her arm, alongside her sisters to fly closely over the víkingr as the raging siege upon the defended citadel began. 

She watched the Norsemen closely through the smoke and fires and rain of arrows, judging their souls and courage. Once she had found a warrior worthy, a young man charging his way to a much larger knight with wanton abandon, Brynhildr had found a hero to claim. He would live a short life, a storied life; this would be his last raid. May his friends remember his bravery. 

She sped towards him and paused in time, her hand on the Germanic knight’s elbow to push his sword just the right way... plunging the blade into the Norseman’s heart. She waited for him to die, and when he did, Brynhildr appeared over him with a soft smile, a sight all warriors wished to see, proof at last that their Valhalla truly existed, a moment of great peace after the fury of battle and the terror of sudden death... She wrapped her arm around him, lifting his soul up into the sky with her to Valhalla---- and she returned just as quickly. The journey was quick for a Valkyrie; this battle would last long and she would gain many new einherjar for her father.

This was a Christian kingdom. Christians worshiped money as much as they worshiped their god --- it was the only way to explain why their relics and artifacts were always gilded and encrusted with jewels. A church would be raided first. As soon as enough was taken, they would leave --- but after much fighting, a great number of víkingr had been lost. 

The Northmen were not a professional army; they were farmers and merchants who took up arms in the summertime to raid, to gain fame and honor. It was the way of their people --- but this land’s army was properly armed, well trained, and of course were greater in numbers. Brynhildr could see the number of heroes dwindling on the battlefield. For some, it was simply not their day to die. For others, they had already been chosen; and the rest were retreating back into the longships with what they had plundered from the city, satisfied. Her sisters, too, had departed into the skies. There was no shame in that --- the raid had been conducted, to leave while still alive was well and good, but many were still fighting, unawares that the greater battle at large had all but been decided.

The eldest Valkyrie contemplated all of this while soaring unseen, maintaining the skies with vigilant eyes. A Germanic knight had caught her eye, a man standing forward and with great confidence... a sword over his head... She could feel the power from his sword even where she flew... What sort of man and weapon was this... He had the undeniable presence of a beast, though a man, and strike from that sword would surely slay many of her Norsemen, her future heroes, the faithful to her father and the gods...  Sigrdrífa could not allow this to happen.

She dropped down onto the earth, taking the form of a shieldmaiden for now, much to the attention of the men around her who caught sight of the silver-haired maiden before she kicked off in one powerful step to cross the battlefield to the swordsman in a flash. 

Using a great amount of strength, Brynhildr swung her lance to meet his sword before it could cast death upon her warriors, stopping his blow from happening... and immediately pulled her blade from his to push it to his throat to slaughter him, unnatural amethyst eyes narrowing at him, the goddess’s face lethally serious as she remained silent.

   .... She saw... ... ... in his soul... ... ... ... hmm... The Valkyrie spoke one word, sharing her voice with the enemy, a voice even her einherjar had not yet heard, before pulling her spear from him and throwing forward her shield arm, intending to smash him back a few hundred feet and chase him down from there, a vicious onslaught of relentless power and speed.

                                        “Dreki...”

[backseat-imagines]

How would the Chocobros react to their shy and short beloved, S/O, being a Shiva-like fairy (as well as Shiva's baby sister)?

I got an order of frosty apostles coming right up!

Noctis wasn’t quite sure what Gentiana meant when she had once told him that he’d have a fragment of herself to always watch over him. Maybe if she said she was watching over him in spirit but… that’s not entirely what she meant.

It was only until much later that he figured it out; a friend, who only very recently went steady with him, had to disappear for just a short while- Only to return and appear out of nowhere, by Gentiana’s side. And only to appear just to freeze a whole squadron of MTs and daemons and without the use of having to toss out a bottle of elements like any of them had to he had to.

Noctis is a smart boy, it doesn’t exactly take him long (not even a whole 2 seconds) to realize what this means.

The gig is up and they show themselves for who they really are, and Noct has so many questions. Mostly of why they never seemed to be there to help when it counted most- like the incident surrounding Leviathan. “I can not interfere with the plans and wishes of the other Astrals.” Okay, fine. But what about the train then?

Maybe it’s a little unfair to be unloading all of those pent up feelings though, even if they do have a relation to the almighty Glacian and that happens to grant them power beyond most anything.

But above all else he’s mostly unsure about them just due to this newfound knowledge. Knowing that the Astral’s are tied to his family and his destiny; there is a difference of them being involved in his life and fate, and actually being involved with him. Surely they know what lies in store for him? But if that’s what they want then might as well let them enjoy he ride while it even lasts.

The time of darkness came to pass, and it didn’t take too long for Ignis to start getting back to feeling like he had his old life back- as least as far as fighting and cooking went. All that was mostly thanks to Cor and his love for trying to help him get back on that track.

But once he had gotten back and was trying to fight on his own again, that was when they started to disappear on him. Even though he was sure they were more than capable of taking care of themselves, this was a world filled with daemons. It was had to not worry. Especially since anymore he hardly got to see them- it seemed like they were out fighting almost 24/7. While that was noble of them… Ignis was ready to plead with them to sit back and take a moment to take care of themselves before they worn down and got themselves hurt- or worse.

In fact that’s what he had set out to do when he had Talcott drive him to the destination they were last in. It’ll be the first time in a couple of weeks that he even got to hear their voice in person…

Lo and behold, when he found them they were in the middle of a fight. Ronin, Arachne- that’s all the monsters he could hear. But as soon as he stepped up to aid them, throwing his daggers into the spine of Arachne, more trouble came to try and stamp on them. Just from listening he could hear it was a terrifyingly large hoard, and they were closing in around him. But then the air around him turned cold, the sounds of the monsters stilled and quieted, and all of the sudden all he could hear was shattering. What… just went on?

“My dear, would you mind filling me in on what exactly just happened? Spare me no exclusion of detail…”

First Leviathan was the plot-twist in his life and now… One of the pieces to Shiva? Did the Astrals have it in for him or what?

Ignis reserves his belief for a second until a cold palm touches him and icy breath blankets over his jaw and he can feel the shards of ice forming on him already. He pulls back away from their touch.

Ignis is skeptic about them now. For what business does an Astral have with him? Any business they have with a human, outside of the kings or the oracles, likely can’t bode well. And if they were here just because they wanted to be with him- what a silly notion; a lifelong relationship to him will seem like a brief summer fling in their life. They’ll outlive him for a good long time, so what were they coming to gain from something that will be so short lived?

Gladio thought there was something a little different about them. They always seemed to be up at all times of the day and they never seem to get exhausted. They had knowledge of times that had long since passed that was never in the history book that he knew and it was almost like they were a scholar. Extreme heat didn’t seem to bug them, come to think of it he never caught them really sweating, and holding their hand through the hot and humid streets of Lestallum they still felt relatively cool.

All of it he brushed off. Some people needed less rest. Maybe their body was really good at regulating it’s own temperature. And it’s not impossible for people to have read or heard a different (sometimes more correct) spin of history. The only part that started to make him think something was a little different was every now and then their eyes seem to flash another color.

What finally gave it away was after Gladio had went through Gilgamesh’s trial and emerged victorious. Wanting to test his newfound strength, they offered to spar with him. They had greatly underestimated him to begin with, so lord only knows how unprepared they were when Gladio hauled off after them and put all of his power into it.

Before they knew it they had to hold off his greatsword with their own hands. As soon as cold steel made contact everything in a short radius was covered in snow and ice- and through the cloud of frost that puffed out he could see the glowing of their eyes- they were an entirely different color again- and patches of their skin changed too.“The hell?”“Far better than I was expecting. O’ shield of the one true king, the true trial of your merit is nigh.”

Gladio certainly didn’t expect for them to have transformed on him like they had. But one thing was for sure, it actually explained a whole lot.

I don’t imagine Gladio gets himself too excited for it. He’ll prod them over their past, after all who wouldn’t be curious? But he doesn’t make too big of a deal. (Though he is proud of himself for getting a chance to be smashin’ what’s essentially a deity by Eos standards. Who else has that kind of bragging right?)

“I have a secret to show you.” They coo playfully into Prompto’s ear. Prompto loves secrets. He likes to poke his nose in where he can, like with how he tried to peek in Noct and Luna’s book or when he was trying to listen in on more of the scoop about the Nifs from Aranea. He often eaves dropped as well, both accidental and purposeful, and it was something he just couldn’t help but to do! Now that they have a secret for him? He was all too happy to let them lead him by the hand just to learn something juicy about them.

“Uhh, babe? Why are we outside?” For some odd reason they lead him outside, drawing him deeper into some woods and stopping by the lake. They gave no verbal answer, they only told him to “stay there, and watch” while they stepped closer to the body of water.

A polar wind started to blow and a sudden frost started twirling in the air. The clothes on their body had begun to disappear and suddenly their hair and skin started to turn into the colors of an iceberg.Were they? No- can’t be? But they are?

The lake had gone frozen, and they were standing on top of it’s ice. “Apostle of Shiva” they call themselves and beckoned him over why extended out their hand for him to take. He does- skin felt colder than the dead.

Prompto gets struck by wonder and awe first- who would have ever thought someone as cute and as meek a them would have been- “Oh. Em. Gee. I need to get a couple shots of this!” He says excitedly as he reaches for the camera. Prompto is a curious one; non-stop clicks of the camera, trying to capture every angle, and as he does so he’s full of nothing but questions. What’s it like? Have you ever shattered anything- a person? Do you cool your own glass before taking a drink? Let’s say if I licked your hand… would my tongue get stuck? What are the others like? What the Shiva herself?

But the sense of wonder eventually fades and a sense of unease rests in his belly. Being in the presence of someone who was god-like was awfully daunting, even more so than being around royalty- he feels lowly. And all of the sudden he feels so small.

Don’t get him wrong, it’s cool and all, but out of all the people in Eos, why did they choose him of all people? A lingering thought keeps coming back to haunt him of what if this was some kind of even the Gods of Eos were just wanting to use him as some kind of amusement.

[hasty-touch]

Battle Stats meme

Because a surprising majority of my characters have no particular skills or strategy for combat besides “kick them in the crotch, run away, and get help,” I’ll do this meme by @qarajin-borlaaq (though with changes in the version that made it to the lovely @bride-and-bride, and some other tweaks) in full for those two characters who are actually capable(...ish) in a prolonged combat situation:

This Battle Stat sheet urges you to balance your character’s prowess in battle with weaknesses that could be their downfall. Options are limited to better help you home in on their specialties. Challenge yourself to follow the limits! Designed for the FFXIV universe.

Don’t reblog; copy/paste & REPOST!

Bold character strengths. Italicize character competencies Strikethrough character weaknesses

 Haillenarte Squire Hyacinthe Aubeheraut

- Best Traits (bold 3, strike 2):

Strength - Endurance - Defense - Dexterity - Intelligence - Magic - Charisma - Perception - Luck

- Battle Experience (bold 1):

Neophyte - Novice - Trained - Experienced - Veteran

- Proficiencies (bold up to 5, strike at least 4):

Martial

Sword & Shield - Axe - Bow & Arrows - Spear - Greatsword - Fists - Two Daggers - Firearms - Sword Without Shield - Single Dagger - Other

Magical

Conjury - Thaumaturgy - Arcanima - Astromancy - Other

- Range (bold 2, strike 1)

Close - Mid - Long

- Special Abilities:

Extreme Tenacity: When he’s in a serious combat situation Hyacinthe can and will fight against any odds and through any injury that doesn’t disable him entirely, entering a state almost like a clear-headed version of a Warrior’s berserker rage, a state in which he feels no fear or pain. He’ll give up only if his commander recalls him -- or if he physically can’t go on, such as if he’s knocked out entirely.

Size and Bulk: Hyacinthe’s stout strength can give him advantages in many situations. He is very hard to throw off-balance when in a defensive position, for example, and you’d better get out of the way if he’s coming at you in a full charge. And as a shortish Elezen, he’s in a nice middle ground between the advantages reach vs. low center of gravity.

Focus and Discipline: While he might be high-strung and overexcitable in every other context of his life, in combat Hyacinthe is a very serious, well-trained squire, not inclined to panic or fumble. And he follows his commander’s instructions obediently and sticks to them even in chaotic situations. Even horrific scenes or threats to loved ones would be unlikely to intimidate or distract him.

- Weaknesses:

Poor Upkeep: ... The flipside of Extreme Tenacity is that when his fearless, stupid doggedness has him fighting on even when he’s been wounded, he’ll pay for it later. Minor injuries become major ones if he doesn’t fall back sensibly, made worse by his tendency to practice poor aftercare. At age 21 his stubbornness has already given hims several long-term health issues, and if he keeps this up his useful years as a fighter may be very brief.

Not the Best Tactician: While he is an effective soldier under someone else’s leadership, when he must make decisions for himself, Hyacinthe is predisposed to make... somewhat dumb ones. He can be overly brave and overreach his position, charge straight into a trap, or make other, potentially head-desky mistakes.

One-Trick Chocobo: Not strictly true, since as a squire Hyacinthe has actually been trained with several weapons and in mounted and unmounted combat. But he is only really good in close melee against men, dragons, and the common monsters of Coerthas. As a squire he knows a bit of Ishgardian conjury for support and first aid purposes, but he has no other magical aptitudes; he is a moderately-poor shot with a bow, and he lacks the litheness and acrobatics that might have made him a candidate for the Dragoons; and any strange terrains or situations, or unexpected fights in which he’d have to improvise -- these would all play to his weaknesses.

and who’s the one other character I have who doesn’t live her life planning not to get into any fights if she can help it...?

The International Bird of Mystery “Bonnie”

- Best Traits (bold 3, strike 2):

Strength - Endurance - Defense - Dexterity - Intelligence?1 - Magic - Charisma - Perception - Luck

1 Well actually Bonnie is extremely smart for a chocobo. She’s just at a relative advantage against Spoken opponents. ^^;

- Battle Experience (bold 1):

Neophyte - Novice - Trained - Experienced - Veteran

- Proficiencies (bold up to 5, strike at least 4):

Martial

Beak - Feet - Unnatural Weapons2

2 I mean I could list them all but unlike the legendary lancer, Kwehstinien the ChocoDragoon, Bonnie doesn’t know how to use any of them.

Magical

Conjury - Thaumaturgy - Arcanima - Astromancy - Other

- Range (bold 2, strikethrough 1)

Close - Mid - Long

- Special Abilities:

Brave Bird: Most chocobos are pretty flighty, and it is only the exceptional among warbirds that cannot be spooked by the sights and sounds of battle and can instead be taught to overcome its natural, sensible self-preservational instincts. Bonnie is one of the exceptional cases.

Better Part of Valor: At the same time, Bonnie is extremely smart, observant and knowledgable about Spoken, and sensible about cause and effect. While she is exceptionally brave, she is still sensitive to potential dangers, and so avoids picking fights that would be dangerous or exposing herself to injury (by charging a lancer, etc.) Her job, protecting her charge, is most effectively done by avoiding anything that could get either of them hurt.

Intelligent Tactics: And, in those cases when she thinks fighting really is the best option, she tries to do so as effectively as possible (via ambush, taking advantage of her speed and reach, going for the eyes, etc.)

- Weaknesses:

Reliance on Barding: Since her only weapons are part of her body, the only way she can effectively block is using armored barding. Which her current charge, an itinerant tinker, does not equip her with -- partly because it’s heavy and costly, but also partly because she hates wearing it in day-to-day situations.

Can’t Talk: Kweh.

No Thumbs: Kweh.

As for my multitude of other characters, the major ones are, in descending order of combat-usefulness:

What It Says On The Tin Tenesen Khuu, who has some knowledge of thaumaturgy (or, at least, the idiosyncratic version practiced in his tribe) but little to no practice in using it on people. Also he’s the scrawniest shrimp.

Holy Inquisitor Rosaire Ledigne, whose training always focused far more on self-defense on the street while undercover -- “don’t get killed while trying to escape” -- and included a bit of field medicine, shielding, and support magic mainly accomplished via arcanima (but he’d still be less capable than a primary combat medic in this role.) He retains his knowledge but he’s even less capable in a fight nowadays, since he’s been horribly out of shape since his long illness 11 years ago -- and that illness permanently weakened his right, dominant side.

Aide to the Inquisition, Valroit Faucheux, whose training, like that of Rosaire, has likewise focused on emergency self-defense and supportive magic. Only he’s a lot worse at all of it than Rosaire.

Ul’dahn Heiress Viviko Viko, whose scant thaumaturgical education and few fencing lessons have not made particularly dangerous at all.

Itinerant Tinker and Grumpy Craftcatte A’mrhael Tia, who may know how to fire a hand-gonne but certainly doesn’t keep one handy and loaded, because that’s dangerous! Theoretically trained in hunting with a bow and spear-fishing, Mrhael is a tinsmith today in part so he doesn’t have to do any of that.

Tagged by: Nobody (but I’ve seen it ‘round)

Tagging: Anybody if they want to do it! But of my friends I think @halonic and @mythrilreflections would be likely to have interesting answers. And @conjurer-reima would be interesting cause I’ve never seen her fight. :o

[gamerszone2019-blog]

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Review - Dancer In The Dark

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/final-fantasy-xiv-shadowbringers-review-dancer-in-the-dark/

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Review - Dancer In The Dark

Whereas previous Final Fantasy XIV expansions grappled with broad-brush concepts in corruption, religion, and imperialism, the path you tread in Shadowbringers is a distinctly personal affair. The central conceit is the battle between good and evil, and between the dual concepts of Light and Dark, but at its core is a story about a protagonist who’s been left adrift and has to come to terms with their identity alongside long-time companions against the backdrop of a dying world. This harkens back to the sort of character treatment that the non-MMO Final Fantasy games have prided themselves on for decades, but even with the familiar subject matter, the journey here feels distinctly forward-looking. The question for a lot of fans was whether the longevity of the game post-Stormblood would last. When you roll the credits on Shadowbringers, it’ll be hard to envision a world where the answer to that is anything other than a resounding “yes”.

Shadowbringers hinges on a revelation. The quests between Stormblood and the new content do a great job of laying down a narrative foundation rife with inter-faction politics, intrigue, and shadowy figures pulling strings with hidden consequences. As the new expansion opens, however, that particular nest of vipers is upended by way of a forced jaunt through time and space. What starts as a quest to save your friends takes a life-altering turn; you’re thrown into the heart of a conflict between Light and Dark that strikes at the core of the hero mythos that the game has built around your character since A Realm Reborn.

As the Warrior of Light, you’re tossed rather unceremoniously into the realm of Norvrandt: a world ravaged by the very element that you’ve chivalrously championed all your life. Like any erstwhile hero facing the unknown, your job initially is to search for some clarity and a way to save your friends back home from eternal slumber. It soon becomes very clear that your impressive deeds in Eorzea mean next to nothing here. No one knows of your previous accomplishments, there’s a distinct distrust from the locals, and your usual non-verbal charm gets you nowhere.

The kicker is that any mention of the Light will make you public enemy number one; it’s rampaging through the land and leaving death and destruction in its wake. You’re unmoored and as good as stranded in an unfamiliar world where your values and beliefs could get you killed. Starting a new MMORPG expansion can often feel like slipping into a pair of worn shoes that have stood the test of time; there’s a certain sense of security afforded to you because of your established Chosen One status. With the story’s rocky start, Shadowbringers takes a decidedly discomforting approach by doing the narrative equivalent of taking those shoes off your feet and getting someone to beat you with them. The solution it offers in its opening minutes is simple: Set aside everything you know and become the Warrior of Darkness.

In practice, this is more difficult than it sounds. Norvrandt is home to all manner of dangers, and the most insidious aren’t the ones that come at you with sharp teeth and sharper claws. There’s a seething undercurrent of wrongness that permeates everything, as beautiful as the lush forests and the wide, open fields of this realm may be. These sentiments are felt throughout the design of Shadowbringers’ new locations and dungeons: the debaucherous Eulmore where the rich are willfully ignorant to the suffering of others, the deceivingly dangerous riot of fae and fancy of Il Mheg, and the apocalyptic wastelands of times long destroyed by the Light, to name a few. Each new environment is twisted violently in some way, whether it’s the presence of monstrous enemies or the cruel ways that its inhabitants have chosen to eke out a living.

The main story quests ferry you from location to location at a decent clip, though ample time is devoted to you experiencing the horrors that the Light has wrought about the realm. Having to go back to what feels like the equivalent of Hero School affords you some breathing room; it’s clear that the expansion wasn’t going to live and die on the Warrior of Darkness’ shoulders alone, and a large part of the narrative is actually devoted to fleshing out popular supporting characters from Final Fantasy XIV canon. You’re not the only one who’s had to make some difficult adjustments, and Shadowbringers doesn’t shy away from tough questions about sacrifice, honor, and duty (or their tougher answers).

The dungeons and trials are an excellent way for Shadowbringers to hammer those points home, and to deal with important narrative beats. It’s a credit to the game’s development team that the dungeons are much more than just a means to keep you occupied or to give you enough experience to move on to the next big thing in the world. They function like little pockets of insight into the decayed state of Norvrandt, complete with harrowing bosses and crumbling ruins. These dungeons see you racing through castles fighting seraphim and diving into fae realms making desperate pacts to secure your future. And it all plays out to a distinctly operatic soundtrack that leans heavily into dramatic strings and modern vocal frills, creating a perfect atmosphere to underscore the urgency of your character’s mission. Every new encounter of this fashion drives the Warrior of Darkness closer to their goal of restoring balance to the world, whether it’s driving a sword through the heart of a friend now-twisted by Light or unearthing the origins and primal motivations for this conflict. Dungeons have always been a part of the main story’s requirements in Final Fantasy XIV, but here they feel just as crucial to your enjoyment and understanding of the tale as the new quests do.

Quests place you directly in the shoes of these supporting characters, and playing as them is both a welcome change of pace and a chance for newer players to deepen their understanding of the game’s lore. That being said, not all quests are made equal, and there are some confusing mechanical decisions that may frustrate. For example, the end of the expansion requires a player to have completed a max-level quest before picking up a lower-level one to progress to the grand finale. In other cases, optional quests that share a common thread can sometimes be spread out across different locations on a map and aren’t signposted any differently from unrelated ones. This can make you feel like you need to slog through every mundane errand in the hopes of finding a diamond. Luckily, these instances are few and far between; just like its predecessor, Shadowbringers brings to life a number of humanizing stories through its side quests and manages to make you care about the day-to-day lives of new characters who initially have nothing but scorn for what you stand for.

It’s not solely about capitalizing on known factors, though. The expansion introduces plenty of unfamiliar delights to sink your teeth into–the Trust system is perhaps the most important addition for accessibility that Final Fantasy XIV has seen since its rebirth. It allows players to take a fully-formed party of NPCs from the main story quests into dungeons with them, eliminating the need to wait 20 minutes in the queue if you were trying to go through matchmaking. This is the perfect solution for players who don’t want to play with strangers and ensures that no one is gated from progressing in the story just because they may have to wait an inordinate amount of time to find the necessary party. These NPCs are drawn from a pool of the familiar faces of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and from some noteworthy new acquaintances, so using them in the Trust system is a pleasant nod to the value that the Shadowbringers narrative places on friendship and sticking together in the face of adversity.

On the matter of the new classes and races aside, servers are currently teeming with Viera and Hrothgar avatars ready to take on the world. While the new race models look as spectacular in motion as one would expect, the Gunbreaker and Dancer classes are still a relative unknown that players are puzzling out at this early stage in Shadowbringers’ life cycle. Gunbreaker packs a hell of a punch as a high-damage job, suited for an off-tank role that trades in axes and greatswords for something a little less traditional. Dancer’s primary focus other than looking absolutely enchanting in combat is to provide buffs for party members, and it appears to be trying to fill the utility ranged DPS role previously occupied by Bards who have now had their party-wide buffs removed.

Gunbreaker currently feels a little too much like it was originally meant to be a DPS class. It does a ridiculous amount of damage, managing to hold its own against the likes of Black Mage and Samurai. This seems a little antithetical to the tanking philosophy imbued within the other role options, where the thematic focus on survivability and protection is much clearer. Healers in particular will have to get used to managing cooldowns around Superbolide, one of the key Gunbreaker abilities that reduces their HP to 1 whilst preventing further fatal damage. Playing as a gun-wielding tank is novel but hard to master as it takes a higher-risk approach to putting your life on the line for your party members and also requires those partied with you to be familiar with your new tricks.

Dancer, for all of its beauty, currently lacks some fire in the damage department. You have to manage two class-specific stances–Technical Step and Standard Step–each with its own set of moves to master. You also have access to Closed Position, which lets you choose a dance partner to benefit from your buffs and your skills. Pulling off a perfect performance will buff the Dancer’s DPS overall, and the key to doing damage is through graceful move combinations that ultimately let you unleash AOE attacks upon unsuspecting foes. The strength of Dancer shines through in prolonged encounters where their deadly chakram slice and dice at enemies, giving them the chance to use skills from both stances for a significant payoff. That being said, setting up these balletic massacres takes time; without enough breathing room to perform a routine, the Dancer can feel a little more frumpy than flamenco, especially in the majority of the game’s legacy content where breathing on something is as good as a killing blow.

Both classes have a distinct identity, though the streamlining of the other jobs has muddied the waters a little in respect of the existing classes enjoying the same individualism. You used to have to pick up quests specifically for your chosen job to learn new skills. Now, Shadowbringers has replaced these with role quests for DPS, tanks, and healers, and these exist mostly to provide experience and to further the overall narrative than to improve any existing affinity with your character’s chosen profession. While some job questlines were more involved than others (Stormblood introduced a particularly heartfelt Samurai one), to do away with them entirely seems like a waste. Role actions also have been further simplified, with changes to tanking and healing in particular removing some bloat but also making them more homogenous. While this makes it easier for newcomers to plug and play, it feels like it’s come at the cost of the unique class identities which past expansions have been so careful to cultivate.

Some of its changes to the player experience are still causing a little discomfort during this teething phase, but Shadowbringers makes a strong case for itself as the game’s most engaging expansion. It’s not just the sheer scale and strength of the narrative weaving in years of old lore without cheapening the experience for new players, or the immaculately designed boss fights replete with spectacular music and thematic touches. It’s also the implementation of the Trust system and the chance to truly feel the impact of the Warrior of Light’s decisions over the past expansions through exploring the stories of your companions. For a story that starts with a laser focus on your character’s motivations and misgivings, it tells a tale that ends up being the biggest and the best that Final Fantasy XIV has ever told. Equal parts redemption, vengeance, cruelty, and sassy Elezen, Shadowbringers promises a hell of a lot when you take your first steps into Norvrandt and delivers a truly spectacular finish even if it stumbles a little along the way.

Source : Gamesport

[airoasis]

Black Desert ? Updated PVX Class Guide for Beginners (2019)

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/black-desert-%e2%96%ba-updated-pvx-class-guide-for-beginners-2019/

Black Desert ? Updated PVX Class Guide for Beginners (2019)

Whats up guys Anders here with the a lot awaited 2019 up-to-date category guide. It’s been a whilst when you consider that I’ve made such a, but it surely’s about time I get to it and with it we must go over a few matters due to the fact that it is a advisor geared in the direction of more moderen gamers, although i know a few of you veteran gamers like to observe as well. Black desert has 17 classes to decide upon from as of the date of this video, with definitely extra to return in the future, this implies it is going to be hard for me to give you the in depth evaluation in comparison with anybody who has been taking part in a single category because the of the sport can offer you. I’m one of those players that likes to play the whole lot, which leads me to be grasp in nothing. Form of like actual lifestyles. So with that stated all of those statements are of course from my perspective and are my opinion and i encourage to search out your category discords and veteran gamers who have been taking part in your type of alternative for a protracted very long time.The pitfall many more moderen avid gamers fall in is making an attempt to play each classification from the beginning and then being led by means of what’s the stronger class at that given time. The meta won’t subject to you considering by the point you as a new player attain the equipment stage required to competitively PVP the meta may have shifted and you can be caught with a class that wasn’t as strong as you desired it to be. That is why I say are trying the lessons out, after this consultant see what appeals to you, examine out the addendum to this video, which is the category Trailers video I posted a little whilst back and spot the way you enjoy the class. For newer gamers the class dynamic will exchange largely if you hit degree 56 after which at 60 so it’s a good proposal to at the least degree a class you are interested in to degree 56 Awaken it, because of this do a questline to acquire that classes second weapon after which make a decision in case you like the class or no longer.All courses within the game are gender locked so keep that in mind when making your selections. I am together with some temporary ability demonstrations in this video to offer you a taste of what every type can do, but they’re basic, so preserve that in intellect. Extremely skilled players make some lessons look insane so seek these out if you are . With that long however crucial intro lets get into the ranking procedure which I was truthfully not going to go with a rating method this time around, but its a good gauge so that it will provide you with an proposal of how a class efficiency in distinctive instances. 1v1 circumstances quite often mean dueling or open world combat.PVP huge scale approach how the class does in guild wars, pve clear just manner how speedily a class kill monsters which, i will say this now, depends on the grind area you prefer. Some courses are higher at different locations relying on the monster density so this ranking is an usual, a class may also be better or worse than I cost. I just give an common score. Hold that in intellect. And eventually now we have ability ceiling.So the higher the ranking the extra space you have to reinforce and be taught. A excessive rating approach the category is generally quite complicated to master. Some high ability ceiling classes may also be best and moneymaking to play, however it’s routinely the case the place a less complicated type will nonetheless beat you at equal levels readily seeing that your type matchup is unfavored. Ok so those are the ratings and explanations out of the way. I count on there’ll nonetheless be people who complain, so comment section is down there and in case you are a veteran participant of a class and also you hopefully aren’t offended, but if you are tell us why you feel a class deserves a greater score, but hold in mind I’ve tried to examine all of the lessons collectively so I’ve tried to be as reasonable as viable.First up. Warrior. Classic classification. Male. Makes use of a Longsword and a protect and has a Greatsword as it can be Awakening weapon, which is it is second weapon. Warrior is very good in 1v1 circumstances. It used to be a lot more tanky before it obtained some nerfs, but it’s received a number of buffs lately which can be hanging warrior back on track to fitting a relatively respectable type. Now not as wellknown this present day, however one of the most OG classes. I like to name it the consistently accountable classification and one of the vital lessons with relatively good efficiency all around. It can be PVE clear used to be probably the most worst, however at the moment each classification clears okay and there are lots of special spots and exclusive equipment levels which you could grind in to seek out one who fits your kind of play. It is now not the quickest grinder, but it surely’s significantly better than it was once. Warrior has a excessive ability ceiling which means once you master this class you are going to be capable to receive some first-rate mobility and lovely lethal burst.It’s presently outshined by means of every other classes that do the tanky function better at the present time, however it is under no circumstances unable at least attempt to play that position. Subsequent up we’ve Valkyrie, feminine. A Paladin-esque class that uses a Longsword and safeguard and has a Lancia as it’s Awakening weapon. Valkyrie is very good in 1v1 instances, however requires mastery of the category to do well in normally all aspects of play. PVE clear is mediocre, however she gets higher the more equipment you’ve got and they’re capable to use some help utility abilities that may have an impact on your workforce participants making her continuously first-rate to have in enormous scale pvp. Her heals don’t seem to be mighty, but they are still utility. Her shielding capability is rather powerful, but particularly the place she shines is in her wonderful burst potential. Skill ceiling isn’t as excessive as Warrior, though it nonetheless takes a lot to grasp the category and if you do you’ll be feared by means of anybody you deem unworthy. A good Valkyrie is sort of a comet whilst you see them combat, it is type of scary. They’ve been outshined by means of different classes that do not want as much effort let’s simply say to play good, but lately she bought some buffs which have put Valkyrie within the direction of being whatever to appear at severely when identifying a category to dedicate your time to.Next up we now have Berserker. Male. Large race class that makes use of Axes and a decorative Knot and a Iron Buster for it’s Awakening. Berserkers are the usual excessive wellness excessive injury hybrid tank esque category of Black desolate tract, but they require numerous apply to do well in PVP occasions. They’re okay on 1v1 duels and traditional in huge scale, though because of your excessive health and ranged CC which you can end up a variety of DP Berserker that Crowd Controls enemies after which sets up your teammates to get kills. It can be not functional and it rather best works in smaller pvp instances like 3v3 duels, however a just right Berserker is a horrifying class. Simply when you consider that they’ve high health though, does not relatively imply they have got inherently powerful defenses. They’re mobility at high talent phases are insane and they’re PVE clear is particularly good total. Berserker has many grabs and limited variety by means of it’s Awakening, but it’s a class i would say is really fun to study and play at greater phases.Warrior, Valkyrie, and Berserker form of make up the tank function in the event you were to seem at a trinity like MMO, however they do not emerge as playing that means seeing that Black barren region is solely an additional sport without a roles particularly.Sarcastically the mages who are on the whole squishy make for some lovely excellent tanks in distinct situations. Wizard and Witch. Let’s start with Wizard. Male. Uses a employees and Dagger and then Godr Sphera for it can be Awakening. Wizards and Witches play identically earlier than getting their 2nd awakening. Which you could cast hearth, ice, lights storms. Chain lightning, heals, resurrect, however most significantly they can cast a skill known as blanketed field which makes them essentially the most sought after guild wars category within the sport. That talent amplifies your allies defenses by using an obscene quantity of a brief period of time which allows for pushes into enemy bases. In it is Awakening the Wizard makes use of hearth and Water elemental potential and can summon an elemental pet, fire for melee. And water for ranged. The Wizard also has a number of protected competencies which means it’s difficult to Crowd manage a Wizard, and his tremendous AOE talents make grinding with wizard fairly effortless. He does battle a little bit at larger grind zones, however overall he’s one of the vital pleasant grinders and surely a nice type for more moderen players.He’s draw back is his whole failure at dueling. That you can be positive in smaller 1v1 fights, but the odds are broadly in opposition to you quite simply considering that Wizard and this go for Witch as well expertise maintain you rooted so it is vitally convenient to grab and combo a Wizard and Witch. Regardless of them most of the time being the worst 1v1 lessons in the recreation, they do make up for being one of the vital exceptional PVE clearers and Guild conflict lessons. Witch. Female. Also uses a employees and Dagger. However makes use of an Aad Sphera for her Awakening. She instructions Earth and Lightning in her Awakening and is equipped to summon an Earth elemental for melee.And a Lightning elemental for ranged. I must be aware that each Witch and Wizard have talents that allow them to aggro over the mob restrict so that you would be able to kill more monsters at a time. The Witch has a block that increases her resistances and her talents have slightly more levels then Wizard. Wizard I forgot to say has a snatch instead of the block. Very sluggish grab, and not very dependable. Given that Witch and Wizard have the same pre-awakening advantage they are able to both use protected area which makes Witch very sought after in Guilds for Guild Wars. PVE clear is excellent as well, with struggling a little in high end zones, however again one of the best clearers in PVE and one fo the pleasant courses in Guild Wars.Both Witch and Wizard will not be terribly complicated to study, in order that they make for original selections for newer gamers. Witch and Wizard can grow to be protective heavy with apparatus and Witch specifically may also be an annoying Crowd control variety classification in smaller PVP that can most likely do some injury even at shrink assault values. Subsequent up we have the Sorceress, feminine. Makes use of an Amulet and a Talisman. And makes use of a Scythe for her Awakening. Sorceress is a cellular dark magic user with first rate 1v1 capabilities thanks to having a number of iframes, or invincibility frames. She isn’t as valuable in greater scale battles, but her perfect black gap capacity is still very priceless in group fights. She’s been nerfed over time, so she’s inferior to she was once. Couple that with the truth that this category takes numerous time to grasp and play good, she becomes probably the most technical classes in the recreation. She has just right potential and is quite good at grinding, even at excessive finish areas.Strong category total, but i wouldn’t say it’s a new player friendly class since you need to apply so much and then you definately need really slightly of equipment to compete at excessive phases. When played well, though she’s in most cases unstoppable. Subsequent up we have dark Knight, female. Elven race. Makes use of a Kriegsmesser and a decorative Knot for her weapons and a Vediant for her Awakening. Vediant is a magical glove that summon one-of-a-kind sword shapes. Kriegsmesser is like a very long dagger. Darkish Knight used to be the great classification in the recreation palms down, but has due to the fact been nerfed multiple instances to now being in one of the most weakest lessons. That’s not to say it can be a horrible category. Dark Knight now requires somewhat more useful resource management, which adds to it can be obstacles and requires a specific mastery of the category to do well in PVP instances.It can be quite squishy type with first rate mid variety AOE. It can be mobility has lately been nerfed so she’s lost some mobility, but is under no circumstances gradual. Her PVE clear remains to be superb, even at high finish areas and is a quite simple class to study in case you are opening out. Dark Knight overalls is a shadow of it’s former oppressive self when it released over a 12 months ago now, nevertheless it’s nonetheless an k classification if you happen to benefit from the playstyle and put the time and apparatus into it. Next up we’ve got Tamer. Feminine. The Loli category i guess you possibly can call it, although you can customize a Tamer to be much less childlike for those who for some reason have a main issue lolis. She uses a Shortsword and a Trinket for her Weapons. And the Celestial Bo employees for her Awakening. Tamer is equipped to summon Heilang, a magical wolf pet that she will be able to journey on, unlike the Witch and Wizard pets. Heilang does a random Crowd manipulate while you order it to assault. That plus Tamer having probably the most quickest grabs within the recreation and splendid burst make her very lethal in 1v1 situations.She is still very squishy and very complicated to grasp. So one mistake and you’re mostly useless except your opponent messes up or anything. Her PVE clear is really just right in any respect areas of the sport due to the fact she is rather mobile and has excellent resource administration. Like I stated she is tremendously complicated to gain knowledge of and grasp and isn’t great in any respect in greater scale fights, so you’ll to find your self unable to relatively support. I suppose it can be valued at bringing up she does have a bit of little bit of a party utility buff, but it surely’s nothing particularly to depend upon. She’s a excellent classification overall with it can be apparent shortcomings, but we contemporary buffs she should be getting a little bit higher moving forward. Tamer makes it the last of the Magic damage customers. These are Witch, Wizard, Sorceress, darkish Knight, and Tamer. All of them deal Magic damage of their assaults, even supposing they use melee it’s going to be regarded Magic harm.What this means is the following two classes will be proof against a component of that harm considering the fact that Striker and Mystic have inherent Magical Defenses. Let’s with Striker. Launched was underpowered at the time. Male type. Makes use of a Gauntlet and a Vambrace as his weapons. And a Gardbrace as his Awakening weapon. Tanky because of it is magical defenses, however didn’t fairly put out a number of damage when it first came out. At the moment although they have nice burst and excellent mobility.They’re strong point comes from being able to summon more than one clones or stands if you will through precise expertise that deal harm alongside you. They are PVE clear is very good, though in view that of their awkward mobility it may be cumbersome to grind in targeted areas of the game, so he is constrained in that ability. 1v1 he is rather robust if performed good. And in large scale fights he has satisfactory AOE and may withstand somewhat greater than ordinary because of these magic resistances.Would not say he is tough to play, so he does make for a more moderen player pleasant type. As for Mystic. Female. Additionally makes use of Gauntlets and Vambrace for her weapons and a Cestus for her Awakening. Her signature trait is the potential to summon a water spirit dragon that does injury alongside her with exact capabilities. Tanky because of her magical resistances. Quite just right shielding knowledge. Quite cellular. Quite resource recuperation. Her injury isn’t as excessive as a Striker, but her sophisticated Crowd control expertise make up for that. She’s competent to built like a Crowd manage bot with super high defenses low attack, however able to try and Crowd manage enemies even as your teammates take them out. Her PVE clear is one of the fine, if no longer the quality currently in most areas of the game.She’s somewhat harder to play than Striker, but i would not say she was particularly complex to master. Does take time, do not get me unsuitable but extra commonly than not you will have to be liked in most matchups. If you wish to have an reply to what is the strongest category in the recreation total. It could be Mystic. Some courses do better in some areas, however Mystic does the whole thing relatively well with out requiring you to play for a long very long time to grasp. Next up we now have Musa.Male. Uses a Blade and a Horn Bow for his weapons. And a Crescent Blade for his Awakening. Musa is highly mobile with large AOE expertise making him fairly lethal at high equipment stages. His PVE clear one of the crucial great within the sport. He’s just fast and with huge AOE expertise is ready to dash from one % to an additional killing them with one talent really with ease. He even does fairly good at high finish grinding areas with sufficient assault worth. This makes him pretty decent in significant scale battles as a strong Musa can mow the garden so that you could speak, mow down weaker gamers with one ability practically. Beautiful cool to see to be sincere. 1v1 is slightly more challenging and requires relatively a bit of observe and a degree of mastery earlier than that you may doing well. His Horn Bow is frequently a PVP device, so do not expect too much range simply considering he has a secondary weapon that may be a bow. And total, i would say he is relatively excellent, particularly enjoyable, undoubtedly a just right class to select if you are new. Subsequent up we now have Maehwa, feminine counterpart to Musa.Uses a Blade and Horn Bow for her weapons. And a Kerispear for her Awakening. Maehwa is also totally cell with conal AOE abilities. Her PVE clear is not as fine as Musa’s, however still quite excellent. Her mobility helps so much with that. It is going to simply rely on the place you might be grinding on account that larger packs are relatively harder to hit with her conal aoe knowledge. She has really slightly of Crowd control and is respectable at 1v1 occasions, though as of late she’s in need of some buffs to put her 4 stars.I suppose those buffs are coming really quickly which is why i’m maintaining her four stars for 1v1 instances, though maintain in mind she takes quite a few mastery to do well in pvp so it is definitely a skill reliant classification if in case you have the apparatus. In larger fights she struggles a little bit due to the fact she’s just a little squishy. She’s a just right type overall and is fun like the Musa, however you’ll wrestle in case you are available in with little talents concerning the sport, so i wouldn’t call her new player friendly. Next up we have now the Ninja and Kunoichi. These are the murderer variety lessons you will be accustomed to from different MMOs.Ninja and Kunoichi each use brief Swords and Kunai and Shuriken for their secondary weapon. Each courses can use either Kunai or SHuriken, though capabilities for Ninja are tied to the SHuriken and expertise for the Kunoichi are tied to the Kunai which is why you can use the correct ones for you category. We are going to with Ninja. Ninja makes use of a Sura Katana for his Awakening. Multiple katanas that he’s capable to use in his Awakening capabilities. He is cellular briefly distances and has some pretty just right combo damage. He is very problematic to study and grasp, however certainly one of, if now not, the most flashy looking lessons in the game. They had been just lately nerfed slightly considering that they had been unable to be countered in some occasions, so Ninjas are nonetheless one of the nice 1v1 courses within the sport.Their grind velocity will likely be dependant on the place you grind, butis total middle of the road. Ninjas don’t seem to be tremendously useful in larger guild conflict fights, but they may be area of expertise is 1v1 fighting and open world pvp. Kunoichi may be very an identical they share the identical capabilities pre-awakening. But Kunoichi, being the female counterpart to Ninja, uses a Sah Chakram as a substitute as her Awakening weapon. This offers her quite better PVE clear, but total is in a an identical state to Ninja. Each Ninja and Kunoichi are ready to go invisible and might get the jump on you in an open world state of affairs, making them appreciated as a traditional murderer type evil karma character. Kunoichi has advanced Crowd manipulate competencies to the Ninja.Is problematic to be taught and master and is likely one of the better 1v1 lessons within the sport. Guild Wars shrewd she struggles a little bit, but can be quite priceless as a Crowd manipulate bot if you’re practiced ample. These two lessons will not be very beginner pleasant, and Ninja is the extra widespread alternative over Kunoichi, who is likely one of the least preferred lessons in the sport correct now. Subsequent up we have now Lahn, female.Makes use of a Crescent Pendulum, and a Noble Sword as her weapons with her Awakening being Crimson Glaives. God of conflict-esque. Lahn is mainly the most underrated class in the sport right now. They have got the particular potential to fly for a brief length. Extra like a glide fairly, however still pretty cool. They’re AOE is decent and their PVE clear is quite just right. Excellent resource administration. Some excellent iframes. Ranged snatch makes her probably deadly in 1v1 occasions. When you consider that she is so unpopular no longer many folks be aware of find out how to combat a Lahn, in order that extra probably than no longer turns into and capabilities, however she is incredibly squishy so one mistake or a foul injury exchange will mean detailed loss of life. This additionally makes her no longer as potent in Guild Wars given that she are not able to really live on for lengthy. Total excellent classification, although. I’d say she’s now not tremendously handy to learn, however there is room for mastery there that can make you pretty powerful in most aspects of the sport external of Guild Wars.Subsequent up we have Ranger. Female. Elven Race. Makes use of a Longbow and Dagger. And a Kamasylven Sword as her Awakening, which is only a longer dagger almost. Ranger is strictly ranged pre-woke up before you hit level fifty six. You then end up mainly melee with using the Kamasylven Sword. She’s fairly cellular offers a quick style of play. Her PVE clear is relatively good, although her largest crisis is excessive resource consumption.Mana, though in my view no longer as unhealthy because it was once. But Stamina consumption was once nerfed a at the same time back and that is the more demanding aspect for many Ranger avid gamers. She has very good injury. 1v1 she may also be lethal with ample gear. Prior a special assault value she is going to simply one shot you if you let her CC you. I might say she’s not the easiest category to learn or master. It takes plenty of time and apparatus, but she presents a different kind of play that I in my view to find fulfilling. In terms of Guild Wars she’s no longer very useful primarily at lessen gearscores you is not going to be very effective. And it is foremost to note that her variety skills are there, however she is not a pure ranged personality, so preserve that in mind.For pure variety you need to be watching on the final class we are going to be speaking about. Archer. Male. Elven Race. Uses a Crossbow and a Ra’Ghon, a Magic Glove as his weapons. And he uses a Greatbow for his Awakening. The only category to start along with his Awakening so you don’t need to degree to fifty six to get your 2nd weapon. You start with it. His range on some of his competencies is extreme. This classification remains to be quite new so no longer many individuals have cracked the code so that you could speak to meet the entire talents of this class, however he is regularly getting buffs so he is surely a robust type, we simply have no idea how powerful but.Variety is continuously robust and he has various it and his mobility is relatively excellent as good as his useful resource management where he does not rather suffer an excessive amount of like the Ranger does for instance. PVE clear is excellent in precise grind spots, but it is reliant on grind areas and density so he can be a bit awkward to grind with until you discover a just right rotation to use. 1v1 duels i’d say he’s mediocre to excellent, with these buffs lately he maybe just a little higher, however he’ll fairly shine in guild wars where he can CC and deal harm from afar with the help of his teammates. Quite fascinating talents as good, he has one potential that is extra novel than useful, nevertheless it uncovers any enemies in stealth and then prevents them from using stealth for a short window of time.No longer very functional, but cool that he has something like that. Not so much else to say, however this category is the newest category brought to the game, so he’s going to by using sheer will of the devs be at the least a decent class moving ahead till we get a new category as more moderen courses get more love and are customarily, now not invariably, overtuned. And that is it from me for this 2019 consultant. Went via the basics and the flavor of every class. Expectantly it gave you an thought what courses you may wish to assess out. When doubtful play Witch or Wizard. Or Mystic or Striker. Easy as that. If you wish to have enjoyable and benefit from the recreation for along time, are attempting the classes out, see what you like and grasp the class regardless of future changes or the category ranking within the ever changing meta leaderboards.Let me be aware of what you inspiration about this video in the comments down beneath, when you have any questions i will do my first-class t reply them once I get a hazard. If you haven’t already make sure to subscribe and hit that bell icon to get notified as to once I upload my next videos and as consistently guys thanks for looking at, thanks for listening, and unwell see you all within the next one. Take care. .

[batterymonster2021]

Black Desert ? Updated PVX Class Guide for Beginners (2019)

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/black-desert-%e2%96%ba-updated-pvx-class-guide-for-beginners-2019/

Black Desert ? Updated PVX Class Guide for Beginners (2019)

Whats up guys Anders here with the a lot awaited 2019 up-to-date category guide. It’s been a whilst when you consider that I’ve made such a, but it surely’s about time I get to it and with it we must go over a few matters due to the fact that it is a advisor geared in the direction of more moderen gamers, although i know a few of you veteran gamers like to observe as well. Black desert has 17 classes to decide upon from as of the date of this video, with definitely extra to return in the future, this implies it is going to be hard for me to give you the in depth evaluation in comparison with anybody who has been taking part in a single category because the of the sport can offer you. I’m one of those players that likes to play the whole lot, which leads me to be grasp in nothing. Form of like actual lifestyles. So with that stated all of those statements are of course from my perspective and are my opinion and i encourage to search out your category discords and veteran gamers who have been taking part in your type of alternative for a protracted very long time.The pitfall many more moderen avid gamers fall in is making an attempt to play each classification from the beginning and then being led by means of what’s the stronger class at that given time. The meta won’t subject to you considering by the point you as a new player attain the equipment stage required to competitively PVP the meta may have shifted and you can be caught with a class that wasn’t as strong as you desired it to be. That is why I say are trying the lessons out, after this consultant see what appeals to you, examine out the addendum to this video, which is the category Trailers video I posted a little whilst back and spot the way you enjoy the class. For newer gamers the class dynamic will exchange largely if you hit degree 56 after which at 60 so it’s a good proposal to at the least degree a class you are interested in to degree 56 Awaken it, because of this do a questline to acquire that classes second weapon after which make a decision in case you like the class or no longer.All courses within the game are gender locked so keep that in mind when making your selections. I am together with some temporary ability demonstrations in this video to offer you a taste of what every type can do, but they’re basic, so preserve that in intellect. Extremely skilled players make some lessons look insane so seek these out if you are . With that long however crucial intro lets get into the ranking procedure which I was truthfully not going to go with a rating method this time around, but its a good gauge so that it will provide you with an proposal of how a class efficiency in distinctive instances. 1v1 circumstances quite often mean dueling or open world combat.PVP huge scale approach how the class does in guild wars, pve clear just manner how speedily a class kill monsters which, i will say this now, depends on the grind area you prefer. Some courses are higher at different locations relying on the monster density so this ranking is an usual, a class may also be better or worse than I cost. I just give an common score. Hold that in intellect. And eventually now we have ability ceiling.So the higher the ranking the extra space you have to reinforce and be taught. A excessive rating approach the category is generally quite complicated to master. Some high ability ceiling classes may also be best and moneymaking to play, however it’s routinely the case the place a less complicated type will nonetheless beat you at equal levels readily seeing that your type matchup is unfavored. Ok so those are the ratings and explanations out of the way. I count on there’ll nonetheless be people who complain, so comment section is down there and in case you are a veteran participant of a class and also you hopefully aren’t offended, but if you are tell us why you feel a class deserves a greater score, but hold in mind I’ve tried to examine all of the lessons collectively so I’ve tried to be as reasonable as viable.First up. Warrior. Classic classification. Male. Makes use of a Longsword and a protect and has a Greatsword as it can be Awakening weapon, which is it is second weapon. Warrior is very good in 1v1 circumstances. It used to be a lot more tanky before it obtained some nerfs, but it’s received a number of buffs lately which can be hanging warrior back on track to fitting a relatively respectable type. Now not as wellknown this present day, however one of the most OG classes. I like to name it the consistently accountable classification and one of the vital lessons with relatively good efficiency all around. It can be PVE clear used to be probably the most worst, however at the moment each classification clears okay and there are lots of special spots and exclusive equipment levels which you could grind in to seek out one who fits your kind of play. It is now not the quickest grinder, but it surely’s significantly better than it was once. Warrior has a excessive ability ceiling which means once you master this class you are going to be capable to receive some first-rate mobility and lovely lethal burst.It’s presently outshined by means of every other classes that do the tanky function better at the present time, however it is under no circumstances unable at least attempt to play that position. Subsequent up we’ve Valkyrie, feminine. A Paladin-esque class that uses a Longsword and safeguard and has a Lancia as it’s Awakening weapon. Valkyrie is very good in 1v1 instances, however requires mastery of the category to do well in normally all aspects of play. PVE clear is mediocre, however she gets higher the more equipment you’ve got and they’re capable to use some help utility abilities that may have an impact on your workforce participants making her continuously first-rate to have in enormous scale pvp. Her heals don’t seem to be mighty, but they are still utility. Her shielding capability is rather powerful, but particularly the place she shines is in her wonderful burst potential. Skill ceiling isn’t as excessive as Warrior, though it nonetheless takes a lot to grasp the category and if you do you’ll be feared by means of anybody you deem unworthy. A good Valkyrie is sort of a comet whilst you see them combat, it is type of scary. They’ve been outshined by means of different classes that do not want as much effort let’s simply say to play good, but lately she bought some buffs which have put Valkyrie within the direction of being whatever to appear at severely when identifying a category to dedicate your time to.Next up we now have Berserker. Male. Large race class that makes use of Axes and a decorative Knot and a Iron Buster for it’s Awakening. Berserkers are the usual excessive wellness excessive injury hybrid tank esque category of Black desolate tract, but they require numerous apply to do well in PVP occasions. They’re okay on 1v1 duels and traditional in huge scale, though because of your excessive health and ranged CC which you can end up a variety of DP Berserker that Crowd Controls enemies after which sets up your teammates to get kills. It can be not functional and it rather best works in smaller pvp instances like 3v3 duels, however a just right Berserker is a horrifying class. Simply when you consider that they’ve high health though, does not relatively imply they have got inherently powerful defenses. They’re mobility at high talent phases are insane and they’re PVE clear is particularly good total. Berserker has many grabs and limited variety by means of it’s Awakening, but it’s a class i would say is really fun to study and play at greater phases.Warrior, Valkyrie, and Berserker form of make up the tank function in the event you were to seem at a trinity like MMO, however they do not emerge as playing that means seeing that Black barren region is solely an additional sport without a roles particularly.Sarcastically the mages who are on the whole squishy make for some lovely excellent tanks in distinct situations. Wizard and Witch. Let’s start with Wizard. Male. Uses a employees and Dagger and then Godr Sphera for it can be Awakening. Wizards and Witches play identically earlier than getting their 2nd awakening. Which you could cast hearth, ice, lights storms. Chain lightning, heals, resurrect, however most significantly they can cast a skill known as blanketed field which makes them essentially the most sought after guild wars category within the sport. That talent amplifies your allies defenses by using an obscene quantity of a brief period of time which allows for pushes into enemy bases. In it is Awakening the Wizard makes use of hearth and Water elemental potential and can summon an elemental pet, fire for melee. And water for ranged. The Wizard also has a number of protected competencies which means it’s difficult to Crowd manage a Wizard, and his tremendous AOE talents make grinding with wizard fairly effortless. He does battle a little bit at larger grind zones, however overall he’s one of the vital pleasant grinders and surely a nice type for more moderen players.He’s draw back is his whole failure at dueling. That you can be positive in smaller 1v1 fights, but the odds are broadly in opposition to you quite simply considering that Wizard and this go for Witch as well expertise maintain you rooted so it is vitally convenient to grab and combo a Wizard and Witch. Regardless of them most of the time being the worst 1v1 lessons in the recreation, they do make up for being one of the vital exceptional PVE clearers and Guild conflict lessons. Witch. Female. Also uses a employees and Dagger. However makes use of an Aad Sphera for her Awakening. She instructions Earth and Lightning in her Awakening and is equipped to summon an Earth elemental for melee.And a Lightning elemental for ranged. I must be aware that each Witch and Wizard have talents that allow them to aggro over the mob restrict so that you would be able to kill more monsters at a time. The Witch has a block that increases her resistances and her talents have slightly more levels then Wizard. Wizard I forgot to say has a snatch instead of the block. Very sluggish grab, and not very dependable. Given that Witch and Wizard have the same pre-awakening advantage they are able to both use protected area which makes Witch very sought after in Guilds for Guild Wars. PVE clear is excellent as well, with struggling a little in high end zones, however again one of the best clearers in PVE and one fo the pleasant courses in Guild Wars.Both Witch and Wizard will not be terribly complicated to study, in order that they make for original selections for newer gamers. Witch and Wizard can grow to be protective heavy with apparatus and Witch specifically may also be an annoying Crowd control variety classification in smaller PVP that can most likely do some injury even at shrink assault values. Subsequent up we have the Sorceress, feminine. Makes use of an Amulet and a Talisman. And makes use of a Scythe for her Awakening. Sorceress is a cellular dark magic user with first rate 1v1 capabilities thanks to having a number of iframes, or invincibility frames. She isn’t as valuable in greater scale battles, but her perfect black gap capacity is still very priceless in group fights. She’s been nerfed over time, so she’s inferior to she was once. Couple that with the truth that this category takes numerous time to grasp and play good, she becomes probably the most technical classes in the recreation. She has just right potential and is quite good at grinding, even at excessive finish areas.Strong category total, but i wouldn’t say it’s a new player friendly class since you need to apply so much and then you definately need really slightly of equipment to compete at excessive phases. When played well, though she’s in most cases unstoppable. Subsequent up we have dark Knight, female. Elven race. Makes use of a Kriegsmesser and a decorative Knot for her weapons and a Vediant for her Awakening. Vediant is a magical glove that summon one-of-a-kind sword shapes. Kriegsmesser is like a very long dagger. Darkish Knight used to be the great classification in the recreation palms down, but has due to the fact been nerfed multiple instances to now being in one of the most weakest lessons. That’s not to say it can be a horrible category. Dark Knight now requires somewhat more useful resource management, which adds to it can be obstacles and requires a specific mastery of the category to do well in PVP instances.It can be quite squishy type with first rate mid variety AOE. It can be mobility has lately been nerfed so she’s lost some mobility, but is under no circumstances gradual. Her PVE clear remains to be superb, even at high finish areas and is a quite simple class to study in case you are opening out. Dark Knight overalls is a shadow of it’s former oppressive self when it released over a 12 months ago now, nevertheless it’s nonetheless an k classification if you happen to benefit from the playstyle and put the time and apparatus into it. Next up we’ve got Tamer. Feminine. The Loli category i guess you possibly can call it, although you can customize a Tamer to be much less childlike for those who for some reason have a main issue lolis. She uses a Shortsword and a Trinket for her Weapons. And the Celestial Bo employees for her Awakening. Tamer is equipped to summon Heilang, a magical wolf pet that she will be able to journey on, unlike the Witch and Wizard pets. Heilang does a random Crowd manipulate while you order it to assault. That plus Tamer having probably the most quickest grabs within the recreation and splendid burst make her very lethal in 1v1 situations.She is still very squishy and very complicated to grasp. So one mistake and you’re mostly useless except your opponent messes up or anything. Her PVE clear is really just right in any respect areas of the sport due to the fact she is rather mobile and has excellent resource administration. Like I stated she is tremendously complicated to gain knowledge of and grasp and isn’t great in any respect in greater scale fights, so you’ll to find your self unable to relatively support. I suppose it can be valued at bringing up she does have a bit of little bit of a party utility buff, but it surely’s nothing particularly to depend upon. She’s a excellent classification overall with it can be apparent shortcomings, but we contemporary buffs she should be getting a little bit higher moving forward. Tamer makes it the last of the Magic damage customers. These are Witch, Wizard, Sorceress, darkish Knight, and Tamer. All of them deal Magic damage of their assaults, even supposing they use melee it’s going to be regarded Magic harm.What this means is the following two classes will be proof against a component of that harm considering the fact that Striker and Mystic have inherent Magical Defenses. Let’s with Striker. Launched was underpowered at the time. Male type. Makes use of a Gauntlet and a Vambrace as his weapons. And a Gardbrace as his Awakening weapon. Tanky because of it is magical defenses, however didn’t fairly put out a number of damage when it first came out. At the moment although they have nice burst and excellent mobility.They’re strong point comes from being able to summon more than one clones or stands if you will through precise expertise that deal harm alongside you. They are PVE clear is very good, though in view that of their awkward mobility it may be cumbersome to grind in targeted areas of the game, so he is constrained in that ability. 1v1 he is rather robust if performed good. And in large scale fights he has satisfactory AOE and may withstand somewhat greater than ordinary because of these magic resistances.Would not say he is tough to play, so he does make for a more moderen player pleasant type. As for Mystic. Female. Additionally makes use of Gauntlets and Vambrace for her weapons and a Cestus for her Awakening. Her signature trait is the potential to summon a water spirit dragon that does injury alongside her with exact capabilities. Tanky because of her magical resistances. Quite just right shielding knowledge. Quite cellular. Quite resource recuperation. Her injury isn’t as excessive as a Striker, but her sophisticated Crowd control expertise make up for that. She’s competent to built like a Crowd manage bot with super high defenses low attack, however able to try and Crowd manage enemies even as your teammates take them out. Her PVE clear is one of the fine, if no longer the quality currently in most areas of the game.She’s somewhat harder to play than Striker, but i would not say she was particularly complex to master. Does take time, do not get me unsuitable but extra commonly than not you will have to be liked in most matchups. If you wish to have an reply to what is the strongest category in the recreation total. It could be Mystic. Some courses do better in some areas, however Mystic does the whole thing relatively well with out requiring you to play for a long very long time to grasp. Next up we now have Musa.Male. Uses a Blade and a Horn Bow for his weapons. And a Crescent Blade for his Awakening. Musa is highly mobile with large AOE expertise making him fairly lethal at high equipment stages. His PVE clear one of the crucial great within the sport. He’s just fast and with huge AOE expertise is ready to dash from one % to an additional killing them with one talent really with ease. He even does fairly good at high finish grinding areas with sufficient assault worth. This makes him pretty decent in significant scale battles as a strong Musa can mow the garden so that you could speak, mow down weaker gamers with one ability practically. Beautiful cool to see to be sincere. 1v1 is slightly more challenging and requires relatively a bit of observe and a degree of mastery earlier than that you may doing well. His Horn Bow is frequently a PVP device, so do not expect too much range simply considering he has a secondary weapon that may be a bow. And total, i would say he is relatively excellent, particularly enjoyable, undoubtedly a just right class to select if you are new. Subsequent up we now have Maehwa, feminine counterpart to Musa.Uses a Blade and Horn Bow for her weapons. And a Kerispear for her Awakening. Maehwa is also totally cell with conal AOE abilities. Her PVE clear is not as fine as Musa’s, however still quite excellent. Her mobility helps so much with that. It is going to simply rely on the place you might be grinding on account that larger packs are relatively harder to hit with her conal aoe knowledge. She has really slightly of Crowd control and is respectable at 1v1 occasions, though as of late she’s in need of some buffs to put her 4 stars.I suppose those buffs are coming really quickly which is why i’m maintaining her four stars for 1v1 instances, though maintain in mind she takes quite a few mastery to do well in pvp so it is definitely a skill reliant classification if in case you have the apparatus. In larger fights she struggles a little bit due to the fact she’s just a little squishy. She’s a just right type overall and is fun like the Musa, however you’ll wrestle in case you are available in with little talents concerning the sport, so i wouldn’t call her new player friendly. Next up we have now the Ninja and Kunoichi. These are the murderer variety lessons you will be accustomed to from different MMOs.Ninja and Kunoichi each use brief Swords and Kunai and Shuriken for their secondary weapon. Each courses can use either Kunai or SHuriken, though capabilities for Ninja are tied to the SHuriken and expertise for the Kunoichi are tied to the Kunai which is why you can use the correct ones for you category. We are going to with Ninja. Ninja makes use of a Sura Katana for his Awakening. Multiple katanas that he’s capable to use in his Awakening capabilities. He is cellular briefly distances and has some pretty just right combo damage. He is very problematic to study and grasp, however certainly one of, if now not, the most flashy looking lessons in the game. They had been just lately nerfed slightly considering that they had been unable to be countered in some occasions, so Ninjas are nonetheless one of the nice 1v1 courses within the sport.Their grind velocity will likely be dependant on the place you grind, butis total middle of the road. Ninjas don’t seem to be tremendously useful in larger guild conflict fights, but they may be area of expertise is 1v1 fighting and open world pvp. Kunoichi may be very an identical they share the identical capabilities pre-awakening. But Kunoichi, being the female counterpart to Ninja, uses a Sah Chakram as a substitute as her Awakening weapon. This offers her quite better PVE clear, but total is in a an identical state to Ninja. Each Ninja and Kunoichi are ready to go invisible and might get the jump on you in an open world state of affairs, making them appreciated as a traditional murderer type evil karma character. Kunoichi has advanced Crowd manipulate competencies to the Ninja.Is problematic to be taught and master and is likely one of the better 1v1 lessons within the sport. Guild Wars shrewd she struggles a little bit, but can be quite priceless as a Crowd manipulate bot if you’re practiced ample. These two lessons will not be very beginner pleasant, and Ninja is the extra widespread alternative over Kunoichi, who is likely one of the least preferred lessons in the sport correct now. Subsequent up we have now Lahn, female.Makes use of a Crescent Pendulum, and a Noble Sword as her weapons with her Awakening being Crimson Glaives. God of conflict-esque. Lahn is mainly the most underrated class in the sport right now. They have got the particular potential to fly for a brief length. Extra like a glide fairly, however still pretty cool. They’re AOE is decent and their PVE clear is quite just right. Excellent resource administration. Some excellent iframes. Ranged snatch makes her probably deadly in 1v1 occasions. When you consider that she is so unpopular no longer many folks be aware of find out how to combat a Lahn, in order that extra probably than no longer turns into and capabilities, however she is incredibly squishy so one mistake or a foul injury exchange will mean detailed loss of life. This additionally makes her no longer as potent in Guild Wars given that she are not able to really live on for lengthy. Total excellent classification, although. I’d say she’s now not tremendously handy to learn, however there is room for mastery there that can make you pretty powerful in most aspects of the sport external of Guild Wars.Subsequent up we have Ranger. Female. Elven Race. Makes use of a Longbow and Dagger. And a Kamasylven Sword as her Awakening, which is only a longer dagger almost. Ranger is strictly ranged pre-woke up before you hit level fifty six. You then end up mainly melee with using the Kamasylven Sword. She’s fairly cellular offers a quick style of play. Her PVE clear is relatively good, although her largest crisis is excessive resource consumption.Mana, though in my view no longer as unhealthy because it was once. But Stamina consumption was once nerfed a at the same time back and that is the more demanding aspect for many Ranger avid gamers. She has very good injury. 1v1 she may also be lethal with ample gear. Prior a special assault value she is going to simply one shot you if you let her CC you. I might say she’s not the easiest category to learn or master. It takes plenty of time and apparatus, but she presents a different kind of play that I in my view to find fulfilling. In terms of Guild Wars she’s no longer very useful primarily at lessen gearscores you is not going to be very effective. And it is foremost to note that her variety skills are there, however she is not a pure ranged personality, so preserve that in mind.For pure variety you need to be watching on the final class we are going to be speaking about. Archer. Male. Elven Race. Uses a Crossbow and a Ra’Ghon, a Magic Glove as his weapons. And he uses a Greatbow for his Awakening. The only category to start along with his Awakening so you don’t need to degree to fifty six to get your 2nd weapon. You start with it. His range on some of his competencies is extreme. This classification remains to be quite new so no longer many individuals have cracked the code so that you could speak to meet the entire talents of this class, however he is regularly getting buffs so he is surely a robust type, we simply have no idea how powerful but.Variety is continuously robust and he has various it and his mobility is relatively excellent as good as his useful resource management where he does not rather suffer an excessive amount of like the Ranger does for instance. PVE clear is excellent in precise grind spots, but it is reliant on grind areas and density so he can be a bit awkward to grind with until you discover a just right rotation to use. 1v1 duels i’d say he’s mediocre to excellent, with these buffs lately he maybe just a little higher, however he’ll fairly shine in guild wars where he can CC and deal harm from afar with the help of his teammates. Quite fascinating talents as good, he has one potential that is extra novel than useful, nevertheless it uncovers any enemies in stealth and then prevents them from using stealth for a short window of time.No longer very functional, but cool that he has something like that. Not so much else to say, however this category is the newest category brought to the game, so he’s going to by using sheer will of the devs be at the least a decent class moving ahead till we get a new category as more moderen courses get more love and are customarily, now not invariably, overtuned. And that is it from me for this 2019 consultant. Went via the basics and the flavor of every class. Expectantly it gave you an thought what courses you may wish to assess out. When doubtful play Witch or Wizard. Or Mystic or Striker. Easy as that. If you wish to have enjoyable and benefit from the recreation for along time, are attempting the classes out, see what you like and grasp the class regardless of future changes or the category ranking within the ever changing meta leaderboards.Let me be aware of what you inspiration about this video in the comments down beneath, when you have any questions i will do my first-class t reply them once I get a hazard. If you haven’t already make sure to subscribe and hit that bell icon to get notified as to once I upload my next videos and as consistently guys thanks for looking at, thanks for listening, and unwell see you all within the next one. Take care. .

[cocoxiv-blog]

LF RP Contacts: Cocoba Coba

NAME: Cocoba Coba NICKNAME(S): Scamp, Coco AGE: 19 RACE: Dunesfolk/Seeker Hybrid GENDER: Female SEXUALITY: Bisexual, No Preference MARITAL STATUS: Single SERVER: Balmung

~Physical Appearance~

HAIR: Knee-length, bundled up in a ponytail most of the time to stop it from obstructing her vision. Jet black with gray dye on the far ends of the hair. EYES: Black, like staring into the void. HEIGHT: 2′5″ BUILD: Pear shaped, chesty for a Lalafell, though her chest size pales in comparison to the size of her thighs. She doesn’t have a lot of muscle, but she spends a lot of time in the wilderness, so she is toned. While no muscle is visible, one can feel how firm she is all over. DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Almost always has eye shadow around her eyes to make her stare seem more imposing. Almost always wears a black bandana around her eyes, leading many to believe she is a bandit of some sort. Has sharp shark-like teeth, miqo’te ears and a long miqo’te tail (about as long as she is tall). COMMON ACCESSORIES: Always carries a cheap dagger and a simple bow on her person, with a quiver of exactly 20 hand-made arrows (never more, never less). If she is carrying any other kind of weapon, is is likely as a means to learn how to use it. Always has a length of rope bundled up on her left side.

~About~

PROFESSION: Huntress, wilderness guide, scout, courier. HOBBIES: Singing, dancing, cooking, traveling, learning new things, having an intelligent conversation. RESIDENCE: Wherever she sets up camp. Prefers cold or temperate climates, so typically she is found in places like The Shroud and Coerthas, though with how vast those regions are, the chances of finding her camp are still pretty slim. BIRTHPLACE: Thanalan, though she is unaware of this fact. LANGUAGES: Eorzean RELIGION: Cocoba walks a very fine line between disliking and hating the Twelve. She hates when people bring them up. NOTABLE TRAITS:  Judging, observant, inquisitive, aggressive, pessimistic, quiet, distrusting, overly cautious / paranoid HOPES: At present, she simply wants to be able to live happily and to find some measure of peace in her life. Unfortunately, day after day, her hopes are shattered. FEARS: Feeling what total and absolute loneliness feels like ever again, letting someone in and being betrayed, spiders.

~Relationships~

SPOUSE: None CHILDREN: Two on the way PARENTS:  Unknown. Never met her birth mother or father. Adopted by a caravan. SIBLINGS:  A whoooole lot, but she has no idea who they are. OTHER RELATIVES: None known

~Traits~

extroverted / introverted / in between disorganised / organised / in between close minded / open-minded / in between calm / anxious / in between disagreeable / agreeable / in between cautious / reckless / in between patient / impatient / in between outspoken / reserved / in between leader / follower / in between empathetic / unempathetic / in between optimistic / pessimistic / in between traditional / modern / in between hard-working / lazy / in between cultured / un-cultured / in between loyal / disloyal / in between faithful / unfaithful / in between

~RP Hooks~

Alteration: (OOC: Cocoba was created to be a character who changes based on what happens around her, rather than being someone who remains the same and set in their ways. As a result, whether you have good intentions or ill intentions, Cocoba will change based on her interactions with others and the events that unfold around her. As a result, everything you have read up to this point is subject to change and is currently based off of who she is as of November 2018)

A Magical Experience: Cocoba is distrusting of magic users, especially those who flaunt their powers to show off or to do things that should be done by hand (in her opinion). She dislikes it when people use magic for any reason other than for self defense. She can understand if someone’s life is in danger, but using your powers to show off or to do something simple like, say, creating light so you can read a book, or creating stepping stones so you can cross a river, is distasteful and will earn scorn. However, a lot of this comes from her lack of understanding of magic and experiences with it hurting those she’s cared about, so perhaps her disliking for magic can be shifted with the right kind of exposure to it.

It’s A Trap!: Cocoba sets a LOT of traps around her camp whenever she chooses a place to make her residence. It is not uncommon for unwary adventurers to find themselves ensnared by one of her traps, be it in the form of falling into a pit or getting their leg caught in a rope and dangling from the canopy. Her paranoia has kept her alive, but it also leads to some unpleasant encounters with angry traveling merchants or parents whose children get caught in the traps. None of the traps are lethal - they only serve to disable a person or animal and alert her to an interloper’s presence.

Blasphemer!: It’s no secret that Cocoba dislikes / outright hates the Twelve and has been known to badmouth them in public. Devout followers or zealots certainly won’t tolerate her blasphemy and will seek to shut her up one way or another.

“Anybody want to get killed with me or get killed looking for me?”: Cocoba’s life is all about living in the wilderness. She views living in a home as a sign of weakness and it distresses her to think she might ever wind up living like that herself. She tries to distance herself as much as possible from the prospect of settling down and living in a home somewhere, whether by choice or by force. As a result, people who try to coerce her into coming to their home are likely to get a verbal thrashing. However, if someone admits a fondness for camping, Cocoba will be thrilled to hear it and seek to further interact with the person. Come join me in this rock I live under!

Hidden Talent: Cocoba used to love singing and dancing, but since she has been exposed to some great tragedies, she has since become closed off to the idea of expressing herself in such a way. She finds it hard to sing because she attributes it with joy, and she doesn’t have a lot of joy in her life right now.

Love for the East: Cocoba has a lot of respect for the people from the Far East because they seem so polite and well mannered, which is a trait she doesn’t often see in people around Eorzea (much to her annoyance). She is prone to romanticizing life in the Far East as a result and yearns to live in that land because it sounds like a place she can really, legitimately settle down. She also admires the Shinobi and the Samurai, which has led her to using a ‘greatsword’ (ie: Hyur-sized one-handed sword) and practicing with it to be like the Samurai. She sucks at it, and she’s not strong enough to hold it properly, but she tries! 

Did you say Chocolate?: Looking for a simple way to open up interaction and to earn some love from her? She loves sweets - especially chocolate and cinnamon. Whether it’s in the form of a drink, a cake, a cookie, ice cream, etc., Cocoba will melt if given something sweet to nom.

OOC Notes

First and foremost, let me state that Cocoba is a lore-friendly character. They may have unusual physical features, but at their core, Cocoba is not designed to be too crazy in terms of talents, powers, etc. She is average as an adventurer and nothing really stands out about her other than that she is a hybrid and has some unusual physical qualities.

I am primarily interested in role plays that help develop the character, whether that’s in the form of a simple social interaction, a venture into the wilderness, delving into a dungeon, or telling a story. I love story-driven interactions and seeing my characters develop over time. 

That being said: if ERP is an interest of yours, it’s not something I get into unless the characters have an actual bond that warrants that kind of role play. While it is true that Cocoba sleeps around, this is more or less a result of her current life. She sleeps around because she is hurting and it distracts her from the pain, but it doesn’t mean that when I role play with people, that’s the thing I’m looking for. 

Please remember: in character does not equal out of character. If Cocoba is a jerk, she’s being a jerk to the character - not the player. Please don’t take offense if she is mean to your character.

If you are interested in trying to interact with her, I am typically active during the day, afternoon and evenings, and I am EST (GMT -5). I typically hang around Ul’dah because it’s one of the only places to go to find RP interactions, but we can always plot something in tells or something as a means to meet and interact.

As a final note, here is her character sheet, which I update regularly based on the role play I have done and the interactions she’s had:

Character Sheet

Hope to meet some folks soon!

[barbosaasouza]

E3 2018: Code Vein Hands-On Preview: Anime Souls

Yes, it’s kind of like Dark Souls. Now that the editorial faux pas is out of the way, let’s talk about Bandai Namco Studios’ newest IP, Code Vein. This dark and challenging world is full of grotesque enemies, bloody attacks, scantily-clad women, and lots of dying. Join me as we dive into what I experienced during my hour-long hands-on of Code Vein at E3 2018.

The Setting

While I wasn’t treated to a lot of cinematics, the world of Code Vein is evident through a glance at the surrounding area; it’s a post-apocalyptic environment where cities lie in ruin, giant spikes and cables spew from the ground, and demon-like creatures roam free.

I took on the role of a steam-punk-looking vampire-like protagonist who uses blood-specific abilities to dispatch enemies. Everything has a gothic aesthetic which is accentuated by every character wearing a black leather coat with a face mask, unless of course they’re female, in which case there is a lot of skin being shown, including the mobs and the bosses.

A Similar Feel…

The first thing players will likely notice about Code Vein is that it feels similar to the Soulsborne series. Controlling health and stamina is essential to walking away from encounters with more Haze to spend on leveling (Code Vein’s currency, treated the same as Souls or Blood Echoes), as is knowing how a given weapon handles and the best time to dodge. The character screen shows off dozens of stats, all of which can be improved through equipping different gear and items. Even the boss fights are gruelling, requiring memorizing attack patterns and putting everything you’ve learned into practice.

After exploring the level for a few minutes, I stumbled across a little shrub called a mistle, which ended up being the Code Vein equivalent of an Archstone, Bonfire, or Lamp. Upon resting at it enemies respawn and healing items refill. For the purposes of the demo, I was able to use the mistle to immediately travel to outside the boss room.

However, there was a mistle located right before the boss, nullifying the need to use this demo-only mechanic as I was able to move through the level with relative ease, especially with how liberally the mistles were placed.

The level itself offered all the trappings players have come to love: alternate paths, hidden back allies, ledges to drop down to, items tucked away, and large enemies waiting around corners to ambush you.

…But Slightly Different

Though the similarities to Soulsborne are quite common, there are numerous differences that work in Code Vein’s favour. For starters, the combat system feels more like trying to pull off combos in a fighting game than a stamina management problem. Land enough hits and you can press R1 + X to perform a “mid-combo drain”, an ability that sees the playable character plunge their clawed-gauntlet into the enemy, gaining something called ichor, Code Vein’s equivalent of mana.

Ichor is the resource used to cast gifts, abilities that buff weapons, apply defences, heal allies, and deal damage to enemy units. Ichor can also be gained by attacking, guarding, and using any ability that features a “drain” effect. A successful backstab will proc the drain effect, as will a successful parry. All of these will help replenish the ichor you spend using gifts, and increase the maximum amount of ichor you can hold. In this way, the combat becomes a juggle of using gifts, attacking, using a drain ability to refill ichor, and managing the stamina usage. It feels a lot more fast-paced than Dark Souls, perhaps even more so than Bloodborne, if only because there are more abilities happening in quick succession. The combat really clicked for me when I managed to link all these various moves and abilities together.

There’s an additional mechanic called Focus, which acts as a means of staying alive after taking damage. The focus gauge fills whenever you take damage, and once filled, you enter a focused state that fortifies you against attacks. While this state is active, pressing R1 + Triangle activates a launch attack, sending the targeted enemy into the air and auto-performing a drain.

Blood Codes offer an additional difference to how you can play. In the demo I played, only one Blood Code could be equipped, but the idea is that by applying a different code, different weapons and gifts can be used. The demo referenced three Blood Codes: Fighter, excelling at delivering single powerful attacks with heavy weapons; Assassin, exceling at combination attacks and performing quick evasions; and Caster, which excels at casting powerful attack-type gifts.

Interestingly, according to some of the tutorials listed in the demo, your proficiency with certain gifts can be increased by defeating powerful enemies, and once a gift has been maxed, it can be equipped and used without requiring its specific Blood Code to be equipped.

There are a lot of intricate mechanics at play in Code Vein, and that’s before taking into account things like changing the character’s cloak to increase different stats, equipping passives (basically rings) that increase stamina or damage output, the various consumables that can be equipped and used, and even the numerous weapon types (blade, greatsword, halberd, maul, bayonet).

While Dark Souls and Bloodborne allowed summoning of allies at specific parts, the demo gave me an ally for the entire duration of the experience. Louis was his name, and he made himself exceptionally useful. Whenever I died, Louis would use one of his own gifts to resurrect me on the spot, restoring a small portion of my health at the cost of his own – though I had to do the same when Louis succumbed to the boss. Speaking of which…

The Boss

I referenced fanfare in the strapline as well as female characters showing a lot of skin, and the same held true for the boss at the end of the level. This giant humanoid female wielded a spear-like lance and used it with devastating effect to not only knock me to the ground, but zip around the tight arena, all while clad in a revealing bikini/undergarment. Furthermore, one of her attacks saw her slam the tip of the lance into the ground, jump up onto it, and spin around it while firing out globules of water. It made it feel like I was fighting a demon stripper rather than some high fantasy creature.

Ignoring the overt sexual nature of the boss, the fight itself was delightfully challenging. I had to attempt it numerous times during my playthrough, constantly getting slightly better at the encounter until I finally managed to quell the beast. What it came down to was learning her attack patterns, knowing when I could run in for a few scarce hits, and ensuring my dodges were timed correctly to avoid her attacks.

The game itself was difficult. Between figuring out the gift abilities, learning the timing of parries and other moves, and being under the pump to get in as much playtime and collect as much information as possible, Code Vein came across as a challenging experience. Furthermore, Code Vein manages to add an additional layer of gameplay and mechanics to a genre with which I’ve grown intimately familiar. Fans of the Soulsborne series would do well to check out Code Vein when it launches September 27, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.

If you want more Code Vein information, be sure to check out Blake’s thoughts on Code Vein as of an early January build.

E3 2018: Code Vein Hands-On Preview: Anime Souls published first on https://superworldrom.tumblr.com/