#melee weapons upgrade set

[titanomancy]

Just in time to have blown a hundred bucks on out-of-scale 3d printed power axes, it's the long prophesied melee weapons upgrade set!

Lot of value in the box, though. Big fan of the extra heads and hands.

[rocketbirdie]

Laid to rest by ten thousand arrows — the fall of Lao-Shan Lung

HE'S FINALLY DEAD.

This oversized infant has been tormenting me ever since his fateful introduction as the Wall Of All Time in rank G2. It's difficult enough to just scare him off, but for months now, I've had my sights set on outright slaying him.

I tried everything. Aerial style great sword to the face for 30 minutes straight. Max dragon attack striker lance dash spam into his gut. Hell, I even tried the infamous weaponless strategy, frantically hauling cannonballs back and forth, calculating every single ballista shot, carefully counting flinches. But alas, Lao-Shan Lung was simply too powerful for one scrawny little hunter. I was faced with the horrible realization, that if I wanted to take him down alone... I was going to have to play a ranged weapon. (GASP!)

Anyway yeah those guides ain't joking lol dragon pierce bow is ridiculously overpowered against this guy. It took me 2 tries because I've literally never used a bow before, but once I got the hang of it, it was a super easy hunt. Here's the set that netted me a 20 minute Lao kill with both fortresses at 100%:

Magnastar Wil (Max upgraded Valstrax bow), Valor style

Neset Armor (Ahtal-Ka), full set

The luckiest fucking talisman of my entire life, Expert +9 and Crit Element +4, no slots

Armor skills: TrueShot, Pierce Up, Crit Element, Critical Eye 3, Tremor Res

Items: Power Coating Lv.2, Element Coatings Lv.1 and Lv.2, and an unholy amount of mega dash juice

A LOT of patience to obtain all of the materials for the armor and weapon. Phew!

Altheos Incanonis (the max Alatreon bow) is technically better, but there is no way in hell I was going to grind G RANK ALATREON solo, fuck that. I got stupid lucky with the Valstrax grind and got 2 mantles and an orb on a single hunt, so I just ran with it; Magnastar is more than capable of getting the job done, even in the hands of a clueless melee main.

THE DREAM IS REAL!!!! WOOOOOO

[mmani-e]

Yuta Asahina and Sparkling Justice doodles.

Yuta's final design is the one with the jacket tied around his neck. Had a lot of fun with him. Really fun drawing these "splash sketches" I s'pose I'd call em hehe. Really fun all throughout.

Inspiration of both the little splashes are actually Genocide Jack and Komaru. With Yuuta based on GJ's, Makoto's on her sister with both them having guns and all.

Edit - some more ideas I had for the two overnight:

Yuta would be cycling between several melee weapons throughout the story like a walking arsenal, each weapon having its uses mirroring the UDG weapon effects. The baseball bat being the BREAK weapon for example, the Ping-pong paddle with assorted balls being MOVE, a sopping wet pool noodle being BURN, and a stop sign for KNOCKBACK. All these items are stored in a special utility belt that shrinks everything down for Yuta till he needs it.

With enough buildup, Yuta can summon Makoto/Sparkling justice. Sparkling justice is ranged and his bullets and gun are customizable. He starts with a six-shooter but can upgrade into different guns which have different clip/mag sizes, calibers, and more. Whenever his clip runs out he changes back.

Just some more designs to finalize and then it's the big set. :)

[huggingtentacles]

Alright you just beat Elden Ring. Congratulations! You're now one of the cool folks who can actually beat the game, and you're not ready to put it down yet.

Maybe PvP intimidates you and you just wanna explore the world again. You may try a new build sure, but now that you know more about the game, you might wanna try something different, like a challenge run.

"huggingtentacles I am trash at the game there is no way I could do any of the cool runs, I died to Radagon a bazillion times"

Most people are good enough to beat a challange run. You can define what a challange is for yourself! There is no need to jump into something insane like a rune level 1 run or a torch only run. You can set any restriction you want, and completing the game with an additional challange is immensely more satisfying (and gives you bragging rights)

There are many different challange runs all varying in difficulty. Here are the runs that I've done personally.

Easy:

Region Lock Run — the premise is simple, you can't leave the region you are in unless you best the major boss(es) of that region. You can't go to Liurnia untill you beat Margit, you can't go to Altus untill you beat Rennala, etc. This run is fun because you can't skip over progression (like killing the Caelid dragon early with bleed to be overlevelled for Limgrave) which makes every fight feel appropriately difficult.

Starting Class Run — Only use the gear you start the game with. You can level up and upgrade your weapons and flask, but you can't use any other consumables and talismans you didn't start the game with. This run is quite flexible in difficulty because whether you choose to, say, use ashes of war or different spells or even golden seeds is ultimately up to you. All of them count.

No spirit summons — for some this is just the normal Elden Ring run, but for most it's a challange. While it can be somewhat difficult, not having spirit summons still leaves you with enough options to steamroll through the game if you need to. The challenge comes from actually learning the bosses and their patterns and engaging with combat more.

No status effects — As simple as it sounds. Perhaps you used to crutch on bleed, frost, rot or poison, now you can't. There are plenty of other very powerful damage options in the game, so the run is definitely not very hard, it only limits your arsenal somewhat.

Spells only/melee only — depending on what your previous run was. If you're used to standing behind and throwing pebbles, picking up a weapon might be a fun new challenge. And if you are used to your Big Sword, it's gonna be kinda hard to adjust to managing your FP and putting together a build.

Medium:

Spirit Summons Only — moderately difficult because it requires rather extensive knowledge of the game's mechanics. The basic premise is that you can only deal damage using spirit summons. You can restrict it to bosses only or to the whole run in general. It's an absolutely hilarious run. The AI built into the game can beat the entire game for you. Including the hardest endgame bosses like Malenia. Also playing as a support, healing and buffing your summons is really fun :)

No Crimson Flask — LISTEN. I swear it's not that hard. Yes it sucks a bit in the early game, but there are so many tools and options available to completely replace your flask with regen and heal spells. Just level up your vigor. This run is incredibly fun and it's good if you are aiming for harder runs in the future but aren't sure if you have it in you. I know you do ;)

Taunter's Tongue Run — Definitely my FAVOURITE of all of them. Its incredibly simple: you get Taunter's Tongue as soon as you get access to Roundtable Hold and you turn it on forever. Fight invaders alone or with a friend in 2v2s. If you don't have any PvP experience, this is one of the ways to learn. By the end of it, you won't be half bad at PvP, trust me (unless you just run away all the time which is also an option)

Hard:

Rune Level 1 is such a difficult run to do, but the cultural legacy of Fromsoft "no leveling up" runs makes the completion of it so desirable. Completing this run basically makes you part of the small section of people who actually know how to fight every single boss without relying on cheap tactics and cheese. You learn how to counter every move most enemies make because of how unforgiving it is.

But what's more fun is the sheer variety. Stat boosting gear is so common in this game you can literally use almost anything you want as a weapon.

Permadeath — If you die, you restart. Use any tools at your disposal to survive, play it safe, level up your vigor. But most importantly, brace for setbacks. Restarting because of a dumb mistake sucks, but that's why it's such an impressive run to complete. If you can take a loss on Elden Beast and make it to the inside of the Erdtree again, you will achieve one of the hardest challanges ER has to offer.

An easier variation of Permadeath would be "no rune loss" run. There are tools the game gives you to avoid losing runes, but it's still a very difficult run.

Torch Only Run — You pick up a standard torch from Church of Elleh and you use it to Kill God.

An easier variation would be Torches Only run which allows you to use the entire arsenal of torches. Still a very difficult run that requires a lot of skill to beat.

Impossible:

No Thinking About Kissing Malenia run — still working on this one. Can't figure it out. If you have advice please DM me

Feel free to add more challange run ideas!

[dailycharacteroption]

Powered Armor Jockey (Starfinder Archetype)

(art by Shardanic on DeviantArt)

Ah, power armor. Smaller than a proper mech but heavier and tougher than anything in the heavy armor category.

The technical definition of power armor is any suit of armor that comes with additional servos, pistons, and other mechanical parts meant to transfer ordinary human motion into something with a lot more torque, effectively making the wearer superhumanly strong, though depending on the setting, maybe not any faster since moving too fast without protections could see the armor ripping the wearer apart inside of it, which would of course defeat the purpose of it being armor. Additionally, typically power armor is coated in a layer of heavy plating dense enough to take heavy fire which an ordinary human could not normally move in, but can due to the help of the power armor itself.

If you’ve been reading your item descriptions, you might note that a lot of heavy armor in Starfinder is in fact technically power armor, what with assistive servos built in, but proper power armor in the system has it’s own strength score, and is big enough to have hard points for attaching weapons even if they don’t have the integrated keyword.

Now, I told you all that to tell you this: I love power armor, and I love specialist pilots for power armor even more, and that’s what we’re covering today in the form of the Powered Armor Jockey!

Not just a heavy ordinance pilot, these jockeys are also equal part modder enthusiast and field repair mechanics as well, no matter what their skillset is otherwise. This is part of the beauty of the archetype too, as anyone can take it as long as they’re proficient, and while combat-focused classes are the most obvious choice, we’ll see exactly why there’s something here for everyone.

These specialists are constantly modifying and tuning their armor, allowing them to add either an additional weapon mount or space for an upgrade. Later on, they refine this to be able to have both.

They also become intimately familiar with how their armor moves, allowing them to move closer to their normal speed, both in powered and heavy armor.

With knowledge of leverage and the upper limits of their armor, these jockeys can squeeze a bit more power and hit harder with the limbs of their power armor.

Finally, for all their love of the armor, these warriors understand that their lives are still more important than the suit, and they can choose to let their armor take the brunt of attacks they can’t stop outright, damaging it but keeping them alive.

A pretty solid archetype all around, and perfect for any character seeking to specialize in such heavy armor. Now, soldier is the obvious choice, and armor storm is definitely going to be one of your fighting style choices. The fact that so many abilities synergize and specifically stack between the two guarantees it, but beyond that, you might specialize in heavy armament with bombard, bullet storm, or shock and awe, or mix in melee focus with hit and run or wrathful warrior. Other combat classes like solarian and vanguard likely will lean either super defensive to become nearly unkillable, or let the armor do the protecting and go full offense. Meanwhile, nanocyte or evolutionist might be shockingly versatile in such armor.

With non-combat classes, mechanic and technomancer are obvious choices with their technical know-how. You might think experiemental armor is the only choice for mechanic here, but consider the exocortex as an onboard targeting system, experimental weapon as a unique integrated weapon, or even a drone support buddy covering your back. Meanwhile, mages of all stripes can make use of the powered armors durability or strength in a pinch while hammering foes and buffing allies, and sneaky classes like operative and envoy can put in some work making for surprisingly agile and fast power armor sets not unlike Samus Aran.

There’s plenty of ways you can roleplay a character like this. Whether they’re currently serving in a military, a mercenary company, or some other role, they can be anything from brash hotheads to more technical combatants. What remains true is their appreciation for their armor, which can range from technical fascination to an anthropomorphized bond with the armor. On that note, it’s important to remember that it’s completely possible to upgrade the stats of a suit of power armor instead of trading up to the next best one if your character would rather keep their current suit.

Powered armor pilots are known for being eccentric, with some even having small pets they take on missions. However, few are stranger than Aldo, Callsign: Grindhouse, who has a cable serpent named Escavor inhabiting his armor. The two formed a strong bond with each other after the latter spontaneously gained life inside the former’s armor during a mana storm. The internal damage nearly compromised the armor, but the two saved each other and have been inseparable ever since.

Balnar’s Folly is a section of the Kollas System’s asteroid belt that is also the territory of a notorious ysoki pirate, Captain Bloodtail, who fights with her custom rigged armor she calls Scrapclaws as well as a heavily armed support drone called Noisemaker. Needless to say, she likes getting up close and personal with the defenders of any ship she intends to take.

The party is tasked with infiltrating an enemy stronghold, one that should in theory be relatively unguarded save for an on-site skeleton crew of soldiers. However, the intel was bad, and one of the enemy’s elite power armor units is there, a particularly eccentric but nevertheless deadly group.

[novankenn]

i got to say i love yur version of "Jaune Gets a Gun Au" Inspired by @howlingday's RU-JA-GUN-CON, and was wondering if ya can do one that involves a dagger and shield,sword,mask, and a dragon belt that can do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX7aDQ7mJ1k

@dragon1v2 ... I am VERY sorry for taking like forever to address your ask. I truly am. It is well past the time when I should have done so. I hope you enjoy this offering.

"Jaune Gets An Upgrade AU" Day One - (White Knight Chronicles)

While the rest of JNPR and all of RWBY browsed the wares of the "Firearms & Projectiles" section of the Vytal Festival's Armament Con, Jaune accompanied by Ren was walking through the "Blunt & Blade" section. It was a much smaller set of displays and merchant booths focused entirely on Huntsman/Huntress melee weapons and tools.

Ren: I'm still not understanding why you're here, Jaune.

Jaune: I need to upgrade. It's that simple.

Ren: But why? Crocea Mors is a perfectly viable weapon. Why look to replace it?

Jaune: It's an heirloom, and as much as I love having that tactile connection with my ancestors, I need to send it home. It should be resting with honor.

Ren: Okay, if you're set on doing this.

Jaune: You don't need to be here if you'd rather be with the others.

Ren: No... no. I'm not getting with in forty feet with Ruby and Nora while looking at guns. Pyrrha and Yang will keep them in check, and besides I find this rather relaxing.

Jaune: If you say so.

Ren: Besides someone has to be around you to make sure you don't get scammed.

Jaune: It was ONE time! Can we just forget about it?

Ren: No. No we can't. Atlas Generals do NOT have sneak away from Atlas. They just retire.

Jaune: ...

Ren: So any idea what you would like to consider?

Jaune: I feel I should stick with a sword.

Ren: Makes sense.

Jaune: That looks like an interesting booth.

(Imaged sourced from google - Elden Ring Merchant)

Ren: Uh... I'm... I'm... not sure...

Jaune: What's not to be sure of? He's offering melee weapons and has a good assortment...

Ren: Um... he's inside sitting in front of lean-to and has an actual campfire burning...

Jaune: Just makes him authentic.

Before Ren could offer up any further concerns Jaune approached the "stall"

Jaune: Hi.

Merchant: Greetings. How may I be of assistance?

Jaune: I'm looking for something to replace my current weapon with. Preferably a sword, and maybe a shield?

Merchant: I see. I see. I believe I have an item that would be perfect for you... young master.

Ren raised an eyebrow at that comment, and then he took a step back as with a lazy wave of the merchant's hand a shimmering image appeared...

(Imaged source from Google. White Knight Chronicles)

Jaune: Woah. Cool! It's interesting but the sword seems...

Merchant: Don't let the size of the blade fool you. This is a relic of power... that opens potential in you. Would you like to... try it?

With another wave of his hand, the image faded away leaving just the gauntlet and blade floating in the air before Jaune.

Ren: Jaune I...

Jaune plucked the item from the air and slid it on to his left arm. A phrase instantly jumped to Jaune's mind... one that he was compelled to speak...

Jaune: O Wizel, white warrior, wielder of the ancient sword, grant me your power. Verto!

In a glow of pure white light that blinded Ren, Jaune vanished, and a moment later was standing before him... completely changed.

(Image sourced from Google. White Knight from White Knight Chronicles.)

Jaune: Woah! Cool! I think I'll...

Ren: You'll think about it!

Jaune: Ren?

Ren: Jaune... you're um... you're kind of... overly tall?

Jaune looked down, understanding in some unfathomable way that he stood like 23 feet tall.

Jaune: Now that you mention it you do seem a lot smaller than normal.

Ren: So let's shelve this one... check out a few more booths...

Jaune: But this one is so awesome! I mean I'm totally intimidating like this! I bet I could solo a Goliath like this!

Ren: ...

Jaune takes a step forward and trips over his own feet, unused to his now massive size. Before he could arrest his fall, be hit the floor, leaving a crater and squashing several near by booths... luckily no one was injured... aside from Jaune's pride.

Ren: Jaune?

Jaune: I'm okay! I'm okay!

Merchant: So young... master. DO you wish to purchase this exquisite relic?

Jaune looks at Ren who was standing to the side, arms crossed.

Jaune: Can I come back?

Merchant: Certainly young... master. I will await your return.

Deactivating the item Jaune returned it to the Merchant, before having Ren haul him away.

[paragonrobits]

i've had the pleasure of playing Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver's remaster, and as one of the most foundational games for me overall, its given me time to think about stuff. its more or less how the game works; its fundamentally an exploration/puzzle solving platformer with action elements, with the best example being that most of Raziel's upgrades aren't making him stronger but allow him to traverse in new ways, and its gotten me to think about something I've had on my mind ever since i played Soul Reaver 2 back when it released in 2001 (i think):

the exact circumstances of Raziel's rebirth as a wraith, and exactly what's going on with him, is incredibly murky because the only real source Raziel has to go on is enormously suspect and explicitly lies all the time to your face, and that's the Elder God.

The Elder God claims to have spared Raziel from complete dissolution and acts as a benefactor, but Raziel is shown to be deeply suspicious of him around Soul Reaver 2. At first I thought that was a shocking swerve back in the day because the Elder God had always been helpful by the standards of the series, but it bears reminding that Soul Reaver wasn't able to do everything originally planned for it, with many of the unfinished aspects showing up in SR2 and Defiance in some respects (and also i recommend looking up the cut content, it is very cool); crucially, the ending would have had Raziel darkly asking the Elder God if he actually DID save Raziel and remake him as a wraith, or if Raziel was altered by unknown circumstances and the Elder God just took credit for it to manipulate Raziel for its own purposes.

Tellingly, the Elder God simply laughs, and ceases to communicate with him. Afterwards, Raziel would go back in time in an attempt to correct his course. This suggests that the Elder God was always meant to be ambigious and untrustworthy, and almost certainly did NOT have any involvement with whatever Raziel has become.

And the thing about it, the very thing that kept bugging me as I played through the game as a kid and now as an adult, is that Raziel is hardly unique, as a vampire wraith.

They're a common enemy in-game. When a vampire is killed, but their soul is not consumed by Raziel, they become a wraith that floats around the Spectral Realm as probably the most dangerous recurring enemy. As long as their body is intact, the vampire wraith can always return to that body, becoming far more powerful; among other things, gaining the ability to auto-drain Raziel's health, implicitly devouring his soul much as he does to them.

Exactly as Raziel operates.

This is more explicit with the most powerful of the vampire bosses, Raziel's brother Dumah, who alongside the second eldest (Turiel), were the ones who executed Raziel. Dumah has been killed by human hunters and impaled by spears, but his spirit is still around, and once those spears are removed, he is a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut that requires environmental tricks to kill for good. Possessing his body, becoming stronger than before, and vampire wraiths apparently being a fairly natural power for vampires to manifest if killed but not permanently destroyed, all points to Raziel's nature as a wraith not actually being that unique.

So what's different about him to being a walking paradox who, alone of all beings, has free will?

The setting establishes that older vampires are more powerful; Dumah is incredibly strong because his spirit has endured the Spectral Realm for so long. Most vampire enemies vary from needing a few hits to take down, with fledgelings far weaker, and this implicitly shows their toughness because the HUMAN enemies you fight will immediately die from a single hit from the Soul Reaver, or at least two melee weapon hits. It's not that vampires are weak, they're really quite strong, and Raziel is no exception. Raziel, furthermore, was the eldest and most powerful of Kain's lieutenants, and he was submerged in the Spectral Realm for a VERY long time. The specifics are unclear, but it has at the very least been centuries, enough that the landscape is rather different and vampires have mutated into completely inhuman forms. Raziel may be the most extreme form of a vampire wraith, as he honestly doesn't seem that different from the regular wraiths you fight, he's just older and far more powerful.

And this brings us to the actual thought I had here: Raziel's status as a fate-destroying pawn of prophecy is not actually related to him being a wraith, but because of the Soul Reaver.

The title of the Raziel games is rather specific; Raziel IS the Soul Reaver, the most powerful weapon in the first Blood Omen game, devouring the souls of its targets. And the ravenous, insane sentience IS Raziel; he winds up within it, consumed and merged into the blade, driven mad and feral by the long eons within it until, as time passes, it merges with the Raziel we initially play as, far in the future.

It is emphasized that this is a paradox. Its the same person, within the blade and BEARING the blade; an impossible situation, and this may be what causes Raziel to break fate. Kain, during a moment of genuine sincerity, tells Raziel that his ability to defy fate is because of his remaking. He is also fully aware of Raziel's doom; for all of Kain's ambition and desire for power, and his disinterest in a particular moral concern like Raziel has, he is genuinely trying to free Raziel from that doom. So, does this mean that Raziel becoming a wraith is the remaking Kain alludes to here?

It's important to note that in this series, no one really has the full picture. Kain might BELIEVE he knows the specifics of Raziel's remaking, but its hard to be sure if that's actually true or if he misunderstands it; as we see here, vampire wraiths are a known phenomenon and while quite powerful, they don't really seem to have that same kind of reality-breaking property, which may instead be due to Raziel's status as a walking paradox.

[y-rhywbeth2]

So your last post got me curious - how does the Slayer form in bg3 differ from previous games? Is it stronger or weaker? In the past you've mentioned the Slayer shouldn't be a too-many-armed monster but a corpse like thing surrounded by a tornado of bone shards. Was that how it was depicted in previous games?

how does the Slayer form in bg3 differ from previous games? Is it stronger or weaker?

We're comparing 2e to 5e, so the game balance is completely different, but:

BG2

– Strength and Dexterity set to 25 – Effective AC set to -9 [AC 29] – Magic Resistance set to 40% – Saving Throws set to 2 [this is 2e, lower = better] – Attacks per round set to 4 (+5 damage, 1d8 crushing, 2 cold) – +100 Hit Points [Charname's HP is probably higher than 53 at this point, beating Durge's 153 Slayer HP] – Immunity to imprisonment, level drain, stun, and missile attacks - And its so fast I actually edit the entire party to have its speed, due to impatience crossing the maps.

Using it causes Bhaal to get stronger within you, and the palpable aura causes people to hate and fear you (reputation goes down).

BG3 Slayer, at its strongest:

- Str 25, Dex, 14, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8 - HP 153 - AC 16 - Movment Speed: 35ft - 3 attacks per round - The ability to make things around you bleed and flee for their lives by growling at them - And healing by absorbing or drinking your enemy's blood or something, I'm not sure on the details past opening your enemy's arteries and healing. [+2d6]

Charname in Slayer form does 32-60 points of damage a round

Durge's most powerful action as the Slayer, 'Slay,' does 11-31 points of damage. Other options include Multiattack = 4-16 damage Relentless lunge = 9-19 damage Piercing growl = 7-28 damage Sumptuous Blood Bath = 2-20 damage

Although, perhaps to be fair, if we're using Durge's upgraded avatar I should compare to Charname's final upgrade from Ascension (a semi-official patch-mod by David Gaider, making the game harder as well as adding details he wanted in the game (but for whatever reason never made it in)).

So, the Ravager, which tbh is less the Ravager and more 'the bhalspawn Slayer upgraded to be closer to The Slayer. It's been a long time since I played with Ascension installed, but the stats getting tacked on for the Ravager in the base game are something like this:

- Melee: 2d20+2 slashing, +12 strength bonus, +3 weapon proficiency bonus, for 19-57 damage a turn [successful hits dispel magic, including illusions, no save; lowers magic resistance of the target by 5%, no save; 49% chance to do an extra 1d8 target of crushing damage and send them flying across the room, causing unconsciousness, and bringing the damage up to 20-65] - Ranged: two attacks a round, causing 10-20 damage, plus the chance to poison the target, adding another 10 points of poison damage over the next five seconds to a maximum of 27. Will also paralyse the target. +3 - 90% magic resistance - Has access to the Urge to Slay [fiends, undead, and those of the evil alignments are charmed to obey the avatar, including your party members] - Can cast blade barrier. [8d8 damage for anybody who tries to get within melee range of the avatar] - Can summon Bhaal's iconic six bone blades [they can detect invisibility, 25% chance to slow the target. The constructs cannot be backstabbed, harmed with non-magical weapons, are immune to mind-control effects, poison and level drain]

None of which holds a candle to the real deal, although interestingly Bhaal's Str and Dex are a point lower:

– Rogue 32/Fighter 27 – Str 24, Dex 24, Con 22, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 17 – Magic resistance 90% – Damage: 1d4+16 points of damage a round via bone daggers (2 of which is cold damage), attacking up to 12 times a round for 204-240 points of damage every round. Also those attacks cripple your limbs via immediate and fast acting cell death, or something. - Levitates, because why not make combat harder for your victims by flying. – HP 212 – AC 26 – Movement Speed: 75ft per minute/round

Things slain rise as zombies or form a blade barrier by exploding into bone shrapnel. Living flesh hit by his blades withers and becomes useless, depriving them of limbs and brain function depending on the location. The Slayer can drive those around him into homicidal frenzies, and force people to love him and do his bidding by touching them. Bhaal can also just generically create any undead which will answer to him just by touching the corpse of people who have been murdered, he just prefers skeletons.

Where'er he goes, a slavishly devoted, bloodthirsty mob/army of the homicidal and the flesh-hungry walking dead do follow. Aren't we lucky he dislikes taking avatar form?

In the past you've mentioned the Slayer shouldn't be a too-many-armed monster but a corpse like thing surrounded by a tornado of bone shards. Was that how it was depicted in previous games?

God, I wish.

Tabletop versions of the Slayer have stayed consistent with Bhaal's description.

While the version in Murder in Baldur's Gate is described as 'hulking' and Bhaal's manifesting in his spawn's fragile mortal bodies apparently involves a lot of bone snapping and the twisting and rending of flesh; the avatar is described as 'corpse-like' and it's listed as medium humanoid (both prospective hosts were human, so odds are a halfling, gnome or dwarf would remain a small humanoid).

The Dragon Magazine version, written by the BG2 writers, notes that the Slayer is 'demonic-looking' and has tell-tale signs of Bhaal's influence, but is still, visually, a 'version of itself.' No change in size categories either.

In the video games they went with the big fuck-off red thing. Although, imo, the BG2 version looks more insectoid.

[A sprite taken from the wiki]

This is likely because Bioware figured it'd be hard to make the regular floating corpse look visually impressive within the limitations of the game engine. I assume.

Here's its concept art:

I still don't know what to make of that. Is it sticking its tongue out? Is that a probiscis?

BG3 interpreted this design as 'lizard.'

[rollforthings]

I’ve come across confusion with how Fabula Ultima’s character creation works, especially in people coming to it from DnD5e, so here’s a post to break it down and show how awesomely customizable FabUlt PCs are straight from the hop.

In 5e, pretty much everything about your class is decided immediately. Take it at level 1, it drip-feeds you the same features in the same order. At 1st - 3rd level, you pick a subclass from a short list, and this sprinkles in a few more set-in-stone upgrades. A Level 10 Champion Fighter will have all the same class features as every other Level 10 Champion Fighter. If you multiclass, you get to add in some other features, but always the same features in the same order for every class you do this with.

In Fabula Ultima, each Class is a bundle of features called Class Skills, and in most cases these Skills can be taken in any order and as much or as little as you like. Each level your character has represents such an investment in a chosen Skill in a Class that you have. (There’s an example of all this later that makes it clearer.) Some Class Skills are one-and-done -- spend a level on it and it’s yours. Others Skills have multiple tiers to them, allowing you invest multiple character levels into them to make them more powerful. (Each class also has couple of Free Benefits, little boosts you get for having at least one level in a class.) You can also skip a class skill altogether, if it isn’t something you want for your character build.

Looking at each class, they seem a little barebones. Only five Class Skills, not a lot, and each class is kind of niche. The Rogue doesn’t get martial ranged weapons, and the Entropist's only damage spells deal Dark damage. But you see, in Fabula Ultima, multiclassing is mandatory. At character creation, you get 5 levels and you must invest them in two to three different classes, in any of the skills available from those classes. This does two very important things. One, it ensures a character is good in at least two ways straight out of character creation. Two, when combined with the previous point -- that class features can be taken in any order and arrangement -- it creates this unprecedented level of variety, including with starting-level characters.

Like okay, as an example of all this, I’m going to make two builds for starting characters. They’ll have the same number of levels in the same two classes (Guardian 2 / Weaponmaster 3), and not only will they not step on each other’s toes, they’ll play completely differently.

Our first character is going to be a teamwork-oriented tank, focusing defensive support and enemy debuff. The combined Free Benefits of Guardian and Weaponmaster grant +10 max HP, plus martial armor, shields and melee weapons. From Guardian, we’ll take Protect so we can jump in the way of attacks and spells aimed at our allies. We’ll also take Dual Shieldbearer, to give us some insane Defense scores and let us dual-wield those shields as brawling weapons. Now for Weaponmaster. First we’ll grab Counterattack. This grants us a 50% chance to hit back at enemies when they attack us with melee, including the attacks we block with Protect. And we’ll invest our last two levels in Bonecrusher, so we can choose to swap out damage with status effects and MP drain (lots of it because we invested 2 levels) when we hit. Guardian 2 / Weaponmaster 3 who’s tanky as hell, can intercept and punish enemy attacks, and debuffs enemies with shield bashes.

Okay, same Guardian 2 / Weaponmaster 3 spread, same Free Benefits. However, instead of a tank this character is a simple but reliable damage-dealer. From Guardian, we’ll take one level in Defensive Mastery and one level in Fortress. These skills give us a bit of damage reduction and a bit of extra max HP, respectively, and we’ll probably level these up over taking new Guardian skills in the future. As cool as it is, Dual Shieldbearer won’t work for this build since we’ll use a two-handed weapon like a Katana or a Waraxe for bigger damage. From Weaponmaster, we’ll invest in Bladestorm and two levels in Melee Weapon Mastery. Bladestorm lets us spend MP to hit multiple targets when we attack, and the two levels of MWM give us a +2 on our melee attack checks. Guardian 2 / Weaponmaster 3 who’s got a little padding as protection while they focus on accuracy, damage, and hitting multiple targets at once.

So there you go. Same classes, same number of levels in each, completely different playstyles. And these are just starting characters. PCs gain a level every session or two, and they can invest in up to three classes at once (and 5-6 classes over a level 5-50 career). On leveling up, the tank could double down on Guardian to get even tankier, or level into Orator or Spiritist for more support options. The damage dealer could lean into Fury for increased crit chance and bonus damage, or into a magic-hybrid spellblade build via Elementalist. Or either of them could take on Wayfarer for an animal companion and increased travel/exploration aptitude. The possibilites are truly amazing, and you can get super creative with them as you find synergies and build up team combos. And I didn’t even get into Quirks, custom weapons or Heroic Skills.

So yeah, if you haven’t yet, check out Fabula Ultima. Character building is insanely fun and it’s honestly spoiled the 5e equivalent for me.

[cerastes]

hey, i'm planning to get armored core 6 despite never playing any of those games before and since you seem pretty knowledgeable about them i was wondering if you have any tips for someone totally new to the series?

Sorry for the super late answer!

The first thing I can tell you about Armored Core is that you have to get comfy because half of the game is high speed intense high octane combat, and the other half is accounting. Brother, I know how much you want to go back to the part where rifles go bang and swords go swoosh and you have enough Gs on your body that you could passably cosplay a plate of mashed of potatoes, but you gotta do the Excel spreadsheet part, too.

It's really not as bad as it seems, and once it clicks, you know exactly what to look for. But if you want to get all the juice out of the tenga, you have to sit down and take a deep gander at how the systems click. Once you do, trust me on this one, an endless horizon of options will stretch before you because that's when you'll know exactly how to tailor your big death machine to your exact specifications and playstyle. It's deep, but also deeply rewarding!

Next up, something universally useful in Armored Core: Turning Speed. If you can mod, upgrade, or otherwise improve your "Turning Speed" (or equivalent) stat, crank that up as often as you can. It's always a powerful tool, it's always very useful, it's never superfluous. This ties in to the next point:

Your strongest weapon is your camera. When fighting other ACs, player controlled or otherwise, your strongest tool, throughout the games, has been to keep your opponent in your camera, and to stay out of your opponent's camera. Movement is huge in Armored Core, you need to move so as to 1) keep your enemy in your sights, 2) stay out of your enemy's sights, and 3) line up shots. We call this "lining up a vector" or "keeping the enemy in a vector". What this means is that you want to set up your enemy in such a way that they are moving in a direct vector relative to you -- directly towards you or away from you -- so that your shot with stronger, single shot weaponry will land and deal significant damage. You set up this vector while also trying to not be 'caught' in one yourself, and as you may think, this is hard, because if they are in your vector, you are in most situations also in theirs. So, the solution? Be outside of their camera while they are in yours. Can't shoot what they aren't aiming at, right? This is a lot to take in, I know, but you don't have to commit all of this to execution off rip, just keep it in mind, develop your playstyle and learn naturally with this in the back of your head until it clicks and you start being able to see, through your own playstyle, how it is you'll do that.

One final thing I want to recommend is that you don't fall for the allure of The Big Damage Number without considering other factors. Especially when learning, you want to make a balanced build: Have your single shot strong weapons, like a grenade launcher or sniper rifle, paired with a weaker but easier to land weapon, like assault rifles or machine guns, and compliment this further with some sort of auxiliary tool or weapon, like flares that give you leeway, or missiles that can put further pressure on your enemy. In general, when starting out their Armored Core journey, I recommend to people the following loadout: Grenade launcher, assault rifle, laser sword, missile launcher. This is a well rounded toolkit that'll keep you effective at most ranges, and more importantly, will reveal to you, your own preferences. Once you become a super Newtype ace pilot fuckhouse, you'll doubtlessly make your own deathkaiser machine with quadruple railguns or missileboats or pure melee builds, but to get to that point where you know exactly what you want to do, a balanced build helps in letting you learn where your heart leans, what kind of movement-to-bulk ratio works best for you, which weapons are your favorite, etc.

[0heartangel0]

PERSONA 5 TACTICA IS NOT GREAT: A VERY ODDLY-CONSTRUCTED RANT

Pt. 4: Just Play Fire Emblem

After about a week and a half of delaying, I'm finally gonna get into what is arguably the most polarizing part about this game: the gameplay.

Some say it's fun, others say it's too easy and simple for its genre. Then the positive crowd say that the easier difficulty is what makes the game more accessible.

For me personally, I'm a bit mixed on it. As someone who enjoys the tactical rpg genre, I was pretty excited for this game back when it was announced. And by "tactical rpg genre", I mean, I've only ever played Fire Emblem (I promise to get around to others!).

Speaking of, everyone at the time was comparing this to Fire Emblem, saying that it was 'Persona 5, but Fire Emblem', in the same vein of people saying Persona 5 Strikers was just 'Persona 5, but Dynasty Warriors'. As someone who has played both Tactica and Fire Emblem, I believe this comparison is a bit inaccurate.

For starters, while Tactica has the characters move on a 3d plane, letting them freely roam about depending on the amount of spaces they have, Fire Emblem is set on a top-down 2d plane, where you can move around your units in pixelated form.

Tactica limits you to 3 characters per level (until the end of Kingdom 3, where you're given an extra fourth slot specifically for one character (we'll get to him soon enough)), Fire Emblem allows characters in the double-digits (since, you know, it centers around an army in the middle of a war, so there's gonna be a lot of them).

Tactica's gameplay boils down to you trying to expose enemies out in the open, or make them vulnerable in order to perform an easy Triple Threat on them by either using a specific magic skill that has different effects depending on the specific magic or doing a melee attack to push them out of a hiding spot, while Fire Emblem is more of a percentage game that depends on your unit's class, the weapon they're using, where they're located on the field, and just what type of enemy they're up against.

Tactica has the whole team level up as a group, no matter who you bring onto the field that mission, with characters specifically improving via going through their skill trees, while Fire Emblem's units level up individually depending on how many enemies they defeat during a battle and can upgrade into a different class after they reach a level cap.

Tactica allows you to switch out with other party members if one of your characters on the field goes down, while Fire Emblem not only has you continue the battle with one less unit, but keeps that defeated unit dead for the rest of the game (unless it's the main character, in which, it's an automatic game over).

So, yeah. Just because a game is a part of the same genre, doesn't make them the same game. You don't go and say that Mario and Sonic are the same game just because they're both platformers. They have certain elements to them that make them unique from eachother. In fact, Sonic was created solely just to answer the question of, "what if Mario, but we're speedrunning it?"

So to compare Tactica to Fire Emblem would be a bit unfair, especially considering what each game is trying to go for. So, the question I had to answer this whole time was, "what game *do* I compare Tactica to that would feel more fair by comparison?" Or at the very least, "what other game is out there that uses the same or similar mechanics to show how it could be done better?" And my answer came in the form of an epiphany as I played through Tactica for the first time, that epiphany being:

".....this reminds me of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle."

Very odd thought, I know. But bear with me!

From the footage I've seen of this game, Mario + Rabbids appeared rather similar to Tactica in some fashion, and I thought it would be perfect for this rant as a way to get across my pros and cons with Tactica's gameplay overall. Only...one issue:

I've never played Mario + Rabbids...

If I used a game I never played as an example of what you should and shouldn't do in a Tactical RPG of this fashion, it would be very inaccurate and unfair to the argument at hand. If I want to be accurate, I'd have to actually play the game. But, that would mean sitting down for 20+ hours, playing the whole thing, and there's no way I'd have the time or energy to do tha-

So....I did it.

Before we begin, let's make one thing clear: I'm not going to compare these games for what they are *as a whole*, I'm only comparing them by their gameplay. Not only would it be going off-topic from the discussion of gameplay, but it'd be stupid to compare these games by their plots and tone, since it's pretty obvious both games are going for something different. It'd be like comparing Kirby's plot with Dark Soul's plot. That'd be stupid.

If you want me to do a quick review of M + R, you can ask me to, but it will be fairly short. For the time being, we're talking about Tactica, and M + R is a good jumping-off point to help with that discussion. So, let's discuss.

Right off the bat, both games have the same amount of runtime and worlds; they're both 20+ hours long on average, and they both have a grand total of 4 worlds to get through. So, fairly short games, but sweet depending on what they offer or how they pace them. And this is where I start having issues with Tactica. Yes, they have the same amount of worlds and time, but not in Missions (or Chapters in M + R's case).

You see, M + R has a grand total of 9 chapters per world, the ninth chapter always being the boss of said world. So, that's 36 chapters in total. A decent amount, and fairly evened out.

Tactica, however, has 52 Missions in total. Dividing that by four gives an even 13 per world. So, logic dictates that that's how they spaced them out, right?

....right??

RIGHT???

Here, allow me to lay out the total amount of missions per world (or Kingdoms, as Tactica refers to them as):

Kingdom 1 has a grand total of 22 missions. Quite a few, if I do say so myself.

Kingdom 2 halves that to 11 missions!

Kingdom 3 then cuts it down to 9 missions.

And finally, Kingdom 4 has a whopping 10.

You see the issue, don't you? We spend way too long in the first Kingdom, so the rest of the Kingdoms feel extremely short by comparison. You could make the argument that it's due to it being the tutorial Kingdom, so we have to be in the know of the mechanics before really getting into it, but I call bullcrap on that.

M + R's tutorial world by comparison not only had the same amount of chapters as every other world, but it only spent about a chapter or two letting you really learn how it works before stripping the training wheels off. And when they introduce a new mechanic or enemy to you, they do a quick intro, a quick explanation by Beep-O, then you're left to figure out the rest.

It never feels like the game's hand-holding you throughout the experience, since it trusts you'll understand how things work. It didn't need *double* the amount of levels just to get its mechanics across!

Granted, that's a general issue with *most* Persona games, feeling the need to have extremely long intros before getting down to business TO DEFEAT THE HUNS-

Heck, even Strikers has a similar issue with its pacing. But that shouldn't excuse Tactica from making the same mistake, arguably to a major degree due to its shorter runtime. So, if I was gonna start with one fix, it'd be the pacing.

But what about the actual combat? Well, they both only allow a party of three per battle that you can freely choose - M + R, though, forcing you to keep Mario as the leader, while having you pick one Mario character and one Rabbid character. But this raises a question to an odd change on Tactica's part. Why isn't Joker made an automatic leader right off the bat like any other entry before? The answer lies in the newly introduced mechanic, known as Secondary Personas.

Apart from being the protagonist, the only other reason Joker's forced into the party 24/7 as the leader is due to his unique ability to hold and create multiple Personas, making him very versatile in combat. In Tactica, however, they changed it so Joker is no longer a Wild Card for.....some reason. No, really, we barely get explanation for this, apart from this half-hearted one by Lavenza:

This "process" she's referring to is the aforementioned Secondary Persona mechanic. Instead of collecting Personas through 'masks' via negotation, Tactica rewards you with Personas through 'gears' after every mission, and you can give these 'gears' to almost every party member. This allows them extra skills that they wouldn't normally get through level-up (or in Tactica's case, upgrading their skill trees).

This is great in giving your party members more variety and versatility in combat, and also allows Joker to finally keep Arsene throughout the entire game!

This, however, sacrifices what made Joker unique from everybody else, not giving you as much of a reason as to keep him around in the party, especially now that you can easily replace him.

And when I say "almost" every character can get a secondary Persona, I mean everyone, except for Erina and our ☆~special~☆ fourth party member (we'll GET to him), which gives less of an incentive to even keep them in the party. So, that's fun!

Leveling up/improving characters works almost exactly the same between both games, with you buying them better versions of their weapons and upgrading their skill trees by gaining skill points/power orbs. M + R, on the other hand, also allows characters secondary weapons and improved versions of those weapons similar to their primary weapons, giving more variety and setup in battle depending on the kind of secondary weapon it is.

Sentrys (used by Rabbid Peach and Luigi) can travel to targeted enemies, dealing massive damage to both that enemy and any other near their vicinity. But if it's too far from the targeted enemy, there's a chance they and their fellow comrades will target and destroy it before it reaches them. But this could also serve as a distraction for you to set up your own surprise attack or avoidance from a potential onslaught from surrounding enemies.

Grenaducks (used by Peach and Rabbid Yoshi) can be more far-reaching than the assigned gun (this is especially true in Peach's case), and can hit enemies hidden deep behind cover, and can even destroy said cover in the process, leaving them more open. But, they can also hurt comrades if nearby them.

Melee (used by Mario and Rabbid Mario) hit hard on enemies you're right next to, but it's at the cost of leaving you vulnerable to the enemy you decided to approach if not defeated, especially if they're a Smasher type enemy (I repeat: don't approach a Smasher type enemy with this weapon).

Bazookas (used by Rabbid Luigi and Yoshi) are long-ranged weapons that hit by a wide area, so don't get too close, unless you want to get blown away/up.

And that's just the secondary weapons. I haven't even covered the primary weapons, which have their own strengths and weaknesses to deal with.

Tactica technically has this in the form of melee weapons and guns. Although, the only one of these you can truly upgrade are the guns. And even then, the gun's effectiveness and uniqueness depend on the character being used. Some guns are one-hit but have long-range, while others have a wide hit margin but are of shorter range. Although, this could be used to take advantage of a setup made through certain Persona's elemental magic, having unique effects on the enemies.

Eiha causes enemies to be afraid, leaving them vulnerable even from their hiding place, and partisan not only leaves enemies vulnerable in the same way as eiha's effects, but it makes enemies unable to attack (so, more effective eiha). Zio paralyzes, while bufu freezes (so, more effective zio). Garu pushes away enemies, and agi also pushes away enemies, but they're on fire as well (so more effective garu). Psio gravitates enemies toward you, while frei gravitates enemies to other nearby enemies (so, more effective psio). So, in a word, some characters are better to use than others in some form, especially if one character has a better version of magic than the other (you could fix this with a certain secondary Persona, but that feels unnecessary in the long run when another character can provide it so easily).

I can't exactly comment negatively for either skill trees for both games. They serve their purpose, and things they reward their characters are, well, rewarding. Both can only be upgraded through a specific currency for it, with Tactica making it character-specific, while M + R disperses it between characters. Also, Futaba's skill tree is bullcrap.

The enemies! Both games give a fair share of enemy types; Tactica has 5*, M + R has 7.

Let's start off by listing each enemy by order of appearance for each game, then I'll go over the similarities and their effectiveness:

TACTICA

KINGDOM 1: Musketeers, Grenadiers, Drummers

KINGDOM 2: Sumo-matons, Guarded Geishas, Slimy Shinobi*

MARIO + RABBIDS

WORLD 1: Ziggies, Hoppers, Smashers

WORLD 2: Supporters, Buckles

WORLD 3: Peek-A-Boos, Valkyries

In terms of when enemies are introduced, I prefer M + R, since it feels pretty evened out overall. It's a natural progression that doesn't feel too jarring, nor does it feel like it's happening every five seconds.

Compare this to Tactica, which only introduces two* new enemies in Kingdom two at the very end of the Kingdom, and we don't see any new enemies for the rest of the game. I let the final world pass, since it's practically the end of the game, and it'd be stupid to be introducing new things at the very end, but we get nothing for 3rd Kingdom? It feels....lazy. To me, at least.

As for the enemies themselves, let me break them down:

Musketeers and Ziggies are one and the same; your basic enemy that has basic shooting and is fairly easy to take out (it's basically fodder. Basically).

Grenadiers are Smashers, with slight differences. Grenadiers are big brutes that will jump closer to whoever hit them, even if it's not their turn. Hitting them again though will cause them to fall down and be left vulnerable. Smashers are also big brutes that get closer to whoever hits them, but it never stops the cycle of charging. You just have to keep distancing yourself from them till they're down. And there's some levels that just set you right next to them. Maybe even a horde, so be careful of how you approach it.

Drummers are just Supporters, but without the grenades (would've been funny). They heal or buff their allies, and will take a jab at you if close.

Guarded Geishas are Bucklers, but Guarded Geishas are kind of stuck where they are, with the exception of turning towards who's targeting her. Strategy for both involve getting around to their sides or back to actually deal damage, since their fronts are protected by a kind of shield.

Hoppers are unique, in that they can cover farther distances due to the springs on their feet. But, they're just Ziggies in some fashion.

Sumo-matons are also unique, for they're stuck in their spot, but can just chuck things at you from far distances, even fellow enemies, so be careful. They also are very defensive, and take forever to kill, which is bullcrap.

Peek-A-Boos are ghosts that teleport around the map and can lure you out of your hiding place, leaving you out in the open for enemies to hit you.

Valkyries are bulky son-of-a-goats, that cause wide range of damage to anyone who's near when landing near them, and can shoot you with gatling guns from their.......chest.....armor. Did I mention this game's weird?

In terms of difficulty, I'd say the Rabbid enemies are far harder than the Legionarres. The reason is behind how you defeat them.

Sure, some Legionarres have some form of strategy when taking them out, but they're overall very basic, and just boil down to, "get them out in the open, knock them out, then Triple Threat them." Rinse and repeat. If you don't know what Triple Threats are, they're basically All-Out-Attacks, but you have to physically surround the enemy knocked down + some that just so happened to be nearby for convenience sake. As soon as you learn this skill, congratulations. You beat the game.

M + R, at most, gives characters special skills that you have to consider when to use, since after using it, you have to wait a few turns to even use it again. And you want to know the best part? Your enemies also have these skills! That way, you have more of a challenge! Something Tactica doesn't have past Kingdom 1 and the Quests! These skills and Ailments that they inflict on you can be a real game changer, and not in a good way, since it's bad for you. You have to think ahead of your opponents, and how to deal with these random buffs or cheap shots at you when it isn't even their turn. You can cure ailments through jumping off of those ailed characters.

OH! I didn't even get into jumping boosts and sliding into enemies as you're getting to your specific positions, and if I did, we'd be here far longer than we already are, so just know that Tactica would've benefitted from character movement around the field like this, since it would've been more fun and strategy-filled IN THIS TACTICAL RPG-

I just wish Tactica did more with its enemies and character move sets. M + R did, and it's the FLIPPIN' RABBIDS!! GAMING'S MINIONS!!! HOW ARE THEY BEATING YOU??? What's more infuriating is how they will sometimes introduce something, only to *never* bring it up again.

For example, early on in the game, Toshiro states that he saw in armory as he was being transported in the dungeons, and offers to lead the gang there. This results in an escort mission, where you have to make sure Toshiro and everyone else makes it to the end without him dying. It's a nice mission, despite it being an escort mission, and Toshiro's animations crack me up. But the kicker here is that despite a tutorial HEAVILY implying that this will be a recurring thing,

this is the ONLY escort mission in the WHOLE GAME!! We don't get another one with Toshiro later on, we don't get one with a random hat citizen, we didn't get one for Yuki (even though she kind of needed it). We get NOTHING!! WHAT'S THE POINT OF INTRODUCING SOMETHING IF IT'S NEVER GONNA BE BROUGHT UP AGAIN??? I HATE THIS GAME-

OH! And remember that asterisk I keep putting next to both the number of enemies in Tactica and the Slimy Shinobi? Yeah, I did that, because the Slimy Shinobi enemy only appears in ONE level, and never again! And it's so WEIRD, because this enemy is actually interesting, and might make for some neat strategy on having to set up your team in a specific way to corner him, due to its ability to teleport around the map (like the Peek-A-Boos). But NOPE! He just DISAPPEARS. Like my hopes for this game getting me to like it.

Literally the ONLY other positive I can say Tactica has over M + R is how each World has its unique gimmick.

Kingdom 1 has you take down these flags to stop the thieves from being brainwashed (although, this is technically only for two levels, since after defeating Ann, the level just ends, and you watch a cutscene of you taking out the flag).

Kingdom 2 has these switches for both doors and platforms, which is actually good for strategizing how to get around.

Kingdom 3 has these speakers that activate after a certain amount of turns, ordering you to not do a certain thing, or face a penalty (damage).

Kingdom 4 is a grey rehash.

-Okay! There's another positive, but it's rather minor. Tactica allows you to actually freely pick which spot to settle before deciding on hitting an enemy. In M + R. You are committed to whichever spot you choose to reside in, even if it's a misclick. And unlike in Tactica, you can't rewind to the previous turn to fix your mistake. You have to live with it, or start the whole battle over.

But, that's all I have to really say about the combat. Overall, I kind of preferred Mario + Rabbids, and it mainly has to do with it having harder difficulty, despite having a lower age rating from Tactica. Tactica is only difficult at the beginning, and that's about it. M + R only amps up the difficulty as you go along, which is how a game is usually set up, am I wrong?

But if you ask me which game I'd recommend, I'd simply just give you a copy of Fire Emblem: Awakening, and tell you to have fun.

Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4.5, Pt. 5, Pt. 6, Pt. 7, Pt. 8

(I might add more to this argument, for I feel I forgot a few things here or there. But for now, this is what I got.)

[theguardiananatak]

Revanant Livestream Recap

——Revenant——

Seasonal weapons NOT craftable, but are focus farmable similar to BRAVE weapons

Onslaught Salvation: revamp with different enemy types, 3 new maps (widows court is one; mothyards getting update for combat flow), new upgrades (player turret from D1 combined arms, air strike)

Episode exotic weapon: Stasis primary ammo GL

New Scorn enemy, Revenant Baron, respawn mechanic similar to lucent hive guardian

Masterworked double perk versions of seasonal weapons drop from higher rounds (30/40/50) of onslaught

Seasonal weapons

2x fire GL - “Envious Arsenals” perk - damaging with other weapons reloads the weapon, for damage rotations

Handcannon - “Rime Stealer” perk - shattering gives you frost armor

Arc Smg - new perk with jolt interaction

Artifact - stasis focus

GL perks, overload, weaken

Col 1 champs, 2/3/4 equivalent, 5 are pinnacle mods

Returning revamped strike - Inverted Spire

More enemies, mechanics, death lasers, etc

Act II - Hinted at return of a fan fav activity (probably not SRL for Christmas but a Guardian can dream)

New earnable skimmer, Nine themed Xûrfboard, 97 strange coins

Vespers Host - new dungeon

Hooded jacket & bracelet

Top 3 get embroidered jacket with gtag

Icebreaker - dungeon exotic - assists and final blows from other weapons generate Icebreaker ammo, possible interaction with breaking stasis crystals?

Festival of the Lost:

Hunter evil wizard

Warlock evil wizard

Titan good wizard

——Frontiers——

Medium sized expansions, 2 “tentpole” moments to move story forward

Comparable to Rise of Iron size (D1)

Compelling stories with unique experience & post-campaign

APOLLO

metroidvania inspired destination

Nonlinear campaign - choose region and path to explore

25-30 story threads

Narrative: plot pacing is faster, more focused stories

Shaking up storytelling loop with Revenant, then very different in Apollo

Keep the player out in the world & exploring

Frontier Concept Art

location & people we haven’t met yet

Cavernous world to explore, find powerful abilities to uncover secrets at own pace

Creative theme:

1960s music thematic inspiration, early prog, king crimson, slaughterhouse five

“Scavengers reign” tv show inspiration for scifi worldbuilding aspect

“Imagine going to mansion, going to parlor, told there’s a secret door, check the book/statue, suddenly a dead end turns into a new entryway. That’s what we want to build���

New gear chase:

making the players WANT to swap to new tiered armor/weapons

Next Generation Armor: value and easy to understand, play into build crafting identities, fewer stats per armor piece, fewer dump stats (like a low resil roll)

beyond 100stat roll armor, 100-200 str range has chance to grant activate second double melee charges, set bonuses (2-4 pieces for bonuses, can mix and match)

Ex: Tex mechanic set buffs hipfire (cammycakes lol go nuts)

Next Generation Weapons

How to create aspirational weapon chase

Reprised weapons in addition to new weapons

Reprised: getting a new updated version of your fav weapons (chroma rush mentioned), like BRAVE arsenal rollout

Customizable difficulty/modifiers

Create a NEED to chase and craft perfect gear sets to take on max difficulty activities

[satoshi-mochida]

Mecha side-scrolling shoot ’em up VISEGUNNE announced for PC - Gematsu

Stardust Vanguards developer Zanrai Interactive has announced VISEGUNNE, a side-scrolling shoot ’em up game where players pilot a soul-powered combat mecha to fight against a conspiracy that threatens the peace of space. It will be available for PC via Steam. A release date was not announced.

Here is an overview of the game, via Zanrai Interactive:

About

VISEGUNNE is a non-bullet-hell shoot ’em up where explosive action unfolds around you: cities are leveled, space colonies collapse, and orbital structures crumble catastrophically. Between missions, interact with your squad to uncover secrets about a post-apocalyptic Earth, visit shops to upgrade your arsenal, or customize your machine’s look in the garage. Each mission offers intuitive controls and scalable difficulty settings, welcoming both newcomers and seasoned veterans alike. Set in an era where the human soul is harnessed as a power source, join the DIVINITY SPACE DEFENSE CORPORATION’s elite mercenaries to confront pro-Earth terrorists threatening the fragile peace of space. With a charismatic cast of characters, a killer soundtrack, and screen-melting effects, VISEGUNNE is a thrilling modern homage to retro action games.

Story

When scientists discover evidence of the human soul, long dormant divides among the nations of Earth erupt into global war. Colonists residing off-world avoid the bloodshed, but live in fear that the planet’s conflicts might soon spill into space. With no formal military of their own, each colony resorts to employing mercenaries and privateers for their protection. The most influential of these firms is the DIVINITY SPACE DEFENSE CORPORATION, utilizing top-secret war machines capable of harnessing a user’s spirit as an endless source of energy. These SOUL-CAPABLE combat vehicles are unmatched in battle and after a century of this order, DIVINITY has grown to dominate colonial affairs, effectively quarantining Earth’s wars and its toxic politics to the planet’s surface. Earth sympathizers are routinely hunted down. But now, a new wave of pro-Earth fanatics threaten the peace of space, demanding an end to DIVINITY’s policy of segregation. Spurred on by the illegal broadcasts of an enigmatic android holy-man known as Kourosh, these dissidents have seized control of a colony and are demanding an end to DIVINITY’s blockade of the planet. As SOUL-CAPABLE pilot End Visegunne, your squad’s mission is to eliminate these terrorists, dismantle their network of co-conspirators, and return peace to the colonies.

Key Features

Traditional Non-Bullet-Hell Action – Gameplay inspired by classic horizontal shoot ’em ups.

Gorgeous Retro Visual Style – Lovingly crafted pixel art and massive set-piece explosions, with a visual style influenced by late ’80s giant robot anime.

Narrative-Driven Adventure – A unique cast of characters and story-oriented mission design tell a tale about war, power, and disinformation.

Diverse Arsenal – Over 20 different weapons to discover and upgrade, each offering game-changing strategies and attack styles. Equip Gatling cannons, grenade launchers, flamethrowers, carpet bombing units, rail-guns, shotguns, missile launchers, melee weapons, and more.

Flexible Scoring System – The DUAL MULTIPLIER chaining system incentivizes balanced weapon use and improvisation. Make a few kills then match your multipliers for a bonus.

Varied Environments – Missions range from collapsing urban orbital colonies to lush sunset forests and hostile desert wastelands.

Meticulous Detail – The game’s world has been painstakingly designed to feel alive—thrusters flare, powerless foot soldiers scurry around, aircraft dramatically swoop in from the environment, and gravity and oxygen levels can noticeably affect certain weapons.

Pumping Soundtrack – Over two hours of original music with an unapologetic old-school flair inspired by CD-ROM era action game soundtracks of the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Watch the announcement trailer below. View the first screenshots at the gallery.

Announce Trailer

[sugar-soda]

Fallout 4 child! Sole Survivor OC: "Sunny" Evageline Roberts

A Kid Shouldn't be Here Masterlist

A/N: This is NOT romantic at all! This is all platonic relationships that explore how the Fallout 4 companions and game would change if the Sole Survivor was a young child. Any romantic suggestions or reblogs will be blocked.

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Name: “Sunny” Evangeline Roberts

Age: physically and mentally 12

Hair: Black, shoulder-length, typically in twin braids tied in an old purple ribbon.

Eyes: Brown, rather big

Face: Round

Body Type: Lanky and stick-like, very beanpole energy

Clothing: Vault 111 suit, standard pip-boy, leather armor tighted as far as it will go (eventually will upgrade to combat armor), stealth boy, duffle bag, duster for cold weather, gains a Minuteman hat and one of Nick’s spare coats when she’s older

Likes: Sugar, mutifruit, teddy bears, long-distance weapons, Codsworth, Dogmeat, the other companions, comics, the Silver Shroud

Dislikes: Tatos, Cram, Super Mutants, being alone for any amount of time, being left behind on missions, melee weapons, the Institute, eventually the Brotherhood.

Fun facts:

The sniper rifle has probably permanently messed up her shoulder. When she’s standing, it sits lower than her other one.

Due to the lack of radiation exposure and proper nutrition when she was younger, tall genes from both parents, and food not being a big worry after Sanctuary and other settlements are set up, Sunny is going to be ridiculously tall by Commonwealth standards by the time she finishes growing. She already is the tallest 12 year old for sure. By the time she’s 18 and stops, the only companions taller than her are Nick and Danse.

Her parents' rings are kept in a safe at Sanctuary, she doesn’t want to lose them.

Has some serious attachment issues with Codsworth and, later, the rest of her companions. One has got to be around at all times. And being left completely alone is sure to bring tears. She gets a little better as time goes on, but never really grows out of it.

She was not planned. Nora was still in law school and Nate was about to leave for deployment when they found out they were expecting. Luckily, their families helped and they bought Codsworth not long before the birth.

 “Sunny” isn’t her actual name, it’s a nickname. She doesn’t like her real name all that much, thinking it sounds like a dog name. She was upset that Shaun got a “real” name, but her parents wanted their names to match. The only person who still called her that was her paternal grandmother, who she was named after.

Being raised by a former soldier, a lawyer, and Codsworth means she’s very polite on how she addresses people. Everyone is Mr, Miss, Mrs, Mx, or some other title with their last name. If she likes you but still sees you as an authority figure, she’ll use their first name with a title, like Mr. Preston or Detective Nick. If she likes you but doesn’t see you as having any authority, she’ll eventually start calling you by your first name, like Deacon. If she doesn’t like you, you will only be called by your last name, or title, if lacking a last name, like Maxson. (This is how I still speak as an adult.)

She technically isn’t cleared for any missions for the factions she’s an honorary member of, but she goes on them anyway, too scared to not be there if her friends get hurt. Deacon, Cait, and Hancock encourage this behavior, Preston does not and has aged about 5 years from the stress she gives him.

She can’t carry nearly as much as the default player in the game, so the 2 companions are compensation for that. 

She loved the Silver Shroud radio show pre-war, and was very excited to see there is still a radio station for it.

Her dad got a leg injury from a faulty Power Armor suit when she was 9, so he became a stay at home dad. That’s when her parents decided it was a good idea to have another kid. So that’s why there is such a big age gap between her and Shaun.

[theworldvsyoshiko]

Since I just linked it from my main blog anyway, I guess this would be a good time to do a State Of The Union for the colony. I usually do some kind of summary a week or so into each colony, but never got around to it for this one.

The fine seaside orphanage of Robot's Ocean is fucking huge now.

We've got multiple nested layers of defensive walls, a world-class temple and rec room, three geothermal generators, a tidal generator, a solar generator, a full natural gas helixien system for heating and cooling, a greenhouse, a genetics lab with an extensive gene bank, space for 5-6 prisoners to live in comfort, and enough freezers to keep about a year of food on hand at all times. And an in-colony hot spring, most importantly.

The colony's currently worth is about $400k, which is $50k more than any of the previous ones have hit, so it probably isn't a coincidence that I've needed to burn two antigrain warheads on recent attacks. That growth has stagnated a bit, which is fortunate, because as combat goes we're about at our limits. On the upside, we now have something like seven combat owlbears, a Scyther, a Tunneler, a Tesseron, a Centipede Blaster on the way, and of course Yoshiko's pet thrumbo Chiyo.

On the other hand, after investing about $15k into building and upgrading Spencer only for it to die trying to get to its bedroom, we're pretty strapped for cash. And we need some, because the map is just about mined out, and all of these robots and endgame weapons require a lot of materials. Unfortunately the map being mined out also limits our options for producing trade goods. The current plan is to mass-produce... corsets. If you haven't played the game just trust me when I say that this is a sensible plan, but we'll need to do a lot of hunting to make it work.

Following the terrible Tactical Nukes In The Hospital incident, I've rearranged things a bit. The short version is that we've only got one outdoor orbital targeting beacon now, and it should steer most drop pod raids to a less terrible location. Will this help much if another group shows up with a dozen rocket launchers? Hell no. Eventually I'd like to set up one or two extra beacons as decoys.

The population is currently 8, which is just about the lowest it's been in years. These kinds of things happen when four colonists get blown up in one evening.

Yoshiko "Happy" Russell

is, of course, a forever-22 psychic cyborg vampire foxgirl who controls robots with her brain. (Her actual effective age is now 34, but the game doesn't care about that.) She's currently undertaking her Dark Slumber in her Chambyr of Bloode for the next day or two, as one must when they are a vampire.

She's good at fucking everything now. (And good at fucking too; she's got an implant for that.) Her lowest skill is Plants at a 9, or 'solid professional.' She's rated as Expert or better in Shooting, Melee, Construction, Animals, Crafting, Art, Medical, Social, and Intellectual. She has 827 kills, 34 mechanical implants, maxed psychic potential with 10 psychic abilities, and wields a sapient EMP sledgehammer named Nalorgargur. Thanks to being a vampire, the only way to permanently kill her is to destroy her brain. With so many implants, I think the only other ways to even incapacitate her in combat are with an EMP or by destroying her liver. In theory you could make her bleed out too, but she's effectively immune to that. (You should go for the brain thing anyway, because she has pretty good body armor under that parka, but still insists on wearing a beret instead of, like... a helmet.)

Truly she is... the ultimate lifeform.

Toby Lang

Man, this makes for some real mood whiplash. I mean, look at him. There isn't much to say about Lang.

He was found in the wreckage of a space battle a few years ago. He spends all of his time cooking, doing doctor stuff, or handling the colony's pet rabbits. He's no good in a fight. Yoshiko adopted him and he adores her as much as is physically possible; her opinion of him is 7/100.

Actually though, Lang does have one solid accomplishment under his belt. During the last Diabolus fight, all of the blood bags prisoners staged an escape. Everybody who was good in combat was off doing that, and Lang was the only person nearby. So, he grabbed a shotgun and did surprisingly well at controlling the situation. By which I mean blowing their brains out. Can't get any blood out of them like that, but it's better than having them set the base on fire on their way out.

Saburo Richards

Listen, I can't stress this enough. He was like this when I found him. Unlike everyone else, he's an Animusen, a natural foxboy by birth. What benefits does this give? Well, uh. Not any, really. He's fast in the cold and slow in the heat, which was nice before the climate's average temperature got bumped up by 18F.

Richards is still 12 and I'm really hoping he gets some fantastic growth at 13, because he isn't good at anything. For whatever reason, he apparently gets really abusive when he's in a bad mood, because every mental break he's had has been an insulting spree. So most of the colony has opinions of him like

In fact, Olga and Yoshiko are the only two who would even be sad if he died, I think. Yoshiko, of course, adores him.

Raymond "Raywolfen" Wolfen

... has to be the most colorful kid here, as a slug person who was raised by wolves and then crashed outside during a space battle. Don't let the sprite fool you; the game just doesn't know how to render how fucked up she looks. According to her genes, she's got the body of a slug, but covered in scales, with the face of a fox, slug-style eye stalks, and constantly secretes a foul-smelling substance that decomposes corpses. You'd think that being a hideous slug/fox amalgam who smells like rotting bodies would be horrible for her social life, and you'd mostly be right, but Yoshiko adores her. She didn't even adopt her or anything. This happened naturally.

Raywolfen's only really good at combat, but that's okay, because we desperately need that right now.

Ben "Bush" Nitsiza

... is another adopted son who recently turned 13. He's great at melee combat, and got two mechanoid kills while horribly sick with the flu last night. He's... decent at crafting, art, and research. We're working on it. He's not decent at social stuff, but he's the preacher anyway. For now, at least.

Bush actually gets along with everybody else pretty well, which is surprising for somebody with the traits of 'snob' and 'too smart.'

Cindy

... is a sapient mech (it/its) that has only been around for half a year, as part of Yoshiko's ongoing quest to find true love. (This isn't working out very well.) As a hunter-killer mech, Cindy's only really good at combat, and is incapable of... most other things. It's decent with animals and research though, and is slowly learning how to do medicine too.

Cindy is currently flirting with Yoshiko about once every few days, which would be cute if it would just wait until Yoshiko considered it more than a passing acquaintance. It'll work out some day though. I'm sure of it.

Dae-up "Nerd" Kim

Is it fair for me to blame Nerd for the fact that he was chased here by pirates with rocket launchers? Probably not. But it still happened, and it got four people killed. And Nerd's a completely amoral kid who tortured small animals when he was little, so I'm not gonna pretend that I like him. I genetically modified him to be good at mining, so he could mine out the collapsed rocks that trapped Sora as he burned to death. Take some responsibility, you little prick.

Most of the colony likes Nerd, but he's really rooted in his intensely xenophobic ideology, so he hates almost everybody in return. The one person he actually likes is Yoshiko, and that's only because she's ridiculously pretty.

Nerd's actually pretty competent, unfortunately. He's great at mining, crafting, and medical. He's pretty decent at construction, and he'll pick up art fast if we find the time and resources for him to do much of it.

Olga Keuneke

... is 11 and a pretty recent arrival, so there isn't much to say about her. Unlike certain assholes, the trouble that she brought with her was a machine that warmed up our Siberian-ass climate, so I already like her. She's got a huge passion for animals, but she isn't learning much about it because she's not skilled enough to work with our animals. You can't start out by training predatory owl monsters that weigh half a ton.

[l1brarian1999]

Vastilok Build - The Armour Fucker

You wanna fight a boss, Eidolon, or whatever that just has Too Much armour? Naturally.

Please ignore my 7 Forma, this has been reworked several times and I'm a crazy forma addict. This build only requires 4 Forma, and I'll throw in a "Bargain" version at the end. Also, remember this is meant to be more like an idea of what's possible with this weapon, and showing off a very specific synergy I think is cool and fun.

The Vastilok is a Gunblade type weapon, it functions like a shotgun, firing nine pellets. Each of those 9 pellets can do Impact damage, so they will apply the Shattering Impact effect, removing 6 points per for a total of 51 points of armour per blast if you land it dead on.

Feel free to swap the Stance out for High Noon if that's what you got, I just think Bullet Dance is really stupid and funny looking.

With 22.7% Status chance per pellet, I've added Condition Overload, Viral and Status (Vicious Frost, Virulent Scourge), and Corrupt Charge to make the weapon still a Threat when used against regular enemies, even if they still have their armour. Just change the elements as necessary.

As such, that's not quite enough in most cases, so I've added Amalgam Organ Shatter and Magnetic Rush, so I can spam it faster, get a lil extra Magnetic Damage (good for Overguard and another status for Condition Overload). You can substitute these for Killing Blow, and basically any attack speed mod (probably not Berserker Fury) for an easier set up.

I've added Dispatch Overdrive kinda just because I don't need a Tennokai mod here. Corrupt Charge is there to add some oomph to the Heavy Attacks of the Gunblade.

And then we come to two very important additions to the Build - Sacrificial Steel, and Melee Duplicate.

Melee Duplicate is a Legendary Arcane from the Deimos Labs area, specifically from Netracells and Deep Archimedia. On Base Critical Hits, it duplicates the attack.

Meaning, so long as it hits a Yellow Crit, it will hit twice. I've added Sacrificial Steel, so when I perform a Heavy Attack, it has a crit chance of 106.4%

... Meaning, those 9 Pellets, become 18, each one removing 6 points. 102 points of Armour Removed. Except 6.4% of the time, where it won't, but'll do more damage.

Even without this particular combination of Crit and Melee Duplicate, this is one of the best ways to strip Armour off of Bosses, and this particularly build is still quite good against regular enemies. You can also drop Shattering Impact and use this just as a very serviceable melee weapon.

You can also swap Amalgam Organ Shatter out for Melee Elementalist for more wind up speed, and a lean more on status.

If I wanted a Riven, I'd probably go for one with Initial Combo, Critical Damage, Attack Speed, or Raw Damage, and the ideal would be negative puncture damage.

Bargain Version

No Forma Required, No Special Upgrades, generally easier mods to acquire. Thrown in Life Strike to make at least a semi-decent healing bonus. Stack up Attack Speed and Heavy Attack Wind up speed to make it more efficient as an armour stripper.