#its good for melee and non melee builds

[nerd-thing60]

Want an easy to get melee weapon with a high DPS right of the bat, find Chances Knife. Watch the video and bring a shovel and you should find the grave of chance, there you can get his knife. FNV vets will know this but if your new this a is a useful trick to learn

[triviallytrue]

BG3 Feat Tierlist

Fuck it, here's every feat in the game split into four tiers. Within each tier, feats mentioned earlier are better.

Always Take

Feats that, when applicable to your build, are so good they should always be taken.

Tavern Brawler

The best feat in the game by a wide margin. Strength elixirs are available by the time you hit level 4, so for throwers and monks this is a flat +5/+5 to all attack and damage rolls, scaling to a +8/+8 when you get Cloud Giant elixirs in act 3. The fact that it gives you +1 Con on top of that just makes it even more absurd.

Sharpshooter/Great Weapon Master

Both feats revolve around the -5/+10 attack/damage passive, which is crucial for dealing damage as a non-TB martial. Requires a fair bit of game knowledge to manage (should be toggled off against high AC/low HP enemies) and prepare for (Oils of Accuracy, sources of advantage), but in the hands of a skilled player it's essential. The question of which of the two is better gets into thornier debates about ranged vs melee - GWM has the better extra feature with bonus action attacks, but ranged martials can already utilize their bonus action with hand crossbows and have archery style for extra accuracy, but melee gets strength elixirs- on and on.

Often Take

Feats that are not essential but will be useful in a lot of builds.

Dual Wielder

Funnily enough, this feat is the closest thing pure spellcasters have to an Always Take. Melee martials are better off with two-handed weapons and ranged martials don't care, but pure spellcasters can use this feat to dual wield staffs. As early as mid act 1 with the Spellsparkler and Melf's First Staff, this makes a big difference, and in the lategame this allows for dual wielding the Markoheshkir and Staff of Spell Power. Oh, and you get a free +1 AC on top. Isn't an Always Take because if you're running more than one pure spellcaster, you may want to distribute the staffs instead.

Savage Attacker

On a d12 this averages out to +2 damage, which is fine but not incredible. What really makes this shine is that the effect applies to all additional rider dice as well, which is a hefty chunk of damage by the late game. A very nice option for melee builds to pump up their damage, especially if using strength elixirs.

Ability Score Improvement

The default option. Bland, unsexy, but almost always a pretty good choice.

War Caster

The opportunity attack feature here is negligible, but as it turns out, not losing your concentration when you get hit is really, really important. Most dramatic example is twinned haste, where losing concentration will stun half your party, but there are lots of other scenarios where it's pretty bad. Only reason it isn't higher is that there's other ways to obtain advantage on concentration saves, but if you don't have access to those, this is worth taking.

Alert

Much improved over its tabletop counterpart, due to BG3 using a d4 for initiative rolls. If you commit to this one partywide (or on all non-dex primary characters) you can almost always all go first, especially nice for parties that benefit from interweaving actions when they go together.

Resilient

Useful for patching up your saving throws - you can't gain saving throw proficiencies by multiclassing. Mostly useful with Constitution for casters looking to never blow a concentration save, but could be nice to have to buff up Intelligence saves against stuns.

Rarely Take

These feats have niche uses but aren't generally optimal.

Elemental Adept

A very hard one to rank. There are three good elements in BG3 - Lightning, Cold, and Fire. Lightning and Cold resistance are uncommon and can be mitigated with Wet and Fire resistance can be bypassed with Arsonist's Oil, so that part of the feat is less useful than it would appear at first glance. The damage increase is +0.5 per damage die on average, so a Fireball or Lightning Bolt will deal +4 damage per target, which is quite good. Cantrips deal +0.5/+1/+1.5 more, which is less impressive. The main downsides are that you only get it for a single damage type when you'll want to use spells from all three, and that the main elemental damage specialist (Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer) gets their Charisma added to their specialized damage anyway, so Ability Score Improvement for +1 attack/DC/damage is competitive. I think this narrowly misses the cut in most builds, but it's still pretty good.

Lucky

Loses points because it doesn't synergize with... well, anything, but it's never bad to be able to reroll important rolls 3 times a day. A slightly suboptimal alternative to Ability Score Improvement if you don't have anything you want and are feeling quirky. Be warned that it may slow down the pace of play with random boxes.

Sentinel

Unfortunately doesn't have the juice to be a core building block with its Polearm Master synergy bugged, but it does accommodate a tank-adjacent playstyle that you really can't get any other way. Purely mechanically it isn't terrible either, but generally there are better options.

Actor

Useful if you have a Warlock/Sorcerer Tav who isn't going to multiclass into Bard or Rogue. Still not great in most situations - you can get a lot of other bonuses to ability checks and there's a parasite power that gives you expertise in all the social skills in act 3.

Polearm Master

Kind of a tragic feat, considering its stature in tabletop. The bonus action attack doesn't proc additional non-ability modifiers like the Great Weapon Master passive, which severely limits its usefulness, and the classic synergy with Sentinel is buggy and unreliable. Still probably usable, but only just.

Spell Sniper

All damage cantrips besides Eldritch Blast are pretty bad, so be sure to take that one. In general you'd rather take two levels in Warlock to get the goodies that make Eldritch Blast ridiculously good instead of merely better than Firebolt, but as it turns out there is a clear niche use where this is completely optimal: Eldritch Knights that need a cantrip to use with their bonus action attack but can't spare two levels for Warlock because they want the level 11 fighter multiattack. The expanded crit range is worth more to them than the other Magic Initiate crap or a single level in Warlock. Go figure!

Mobile

Optimal for Hamarhraft builds, if you're the kind of person who likes crazy builds in theory and is willing to push through hours of tedium in practice. Everyone else should steer clear, movement speed is nice but not worth spending a feat on and the other benefits are negligible.

Never Take

There are strictly superior options.

Defensive Duellist

Close to putting this one in Rarely Take, but I cannot in good conscience endorse putting in a feat so you can burn reactions on buffing AC, or one-handed melee builds in general.

Martial Adept

Very hard to justify a feat for a single superiority die (ie, one maneuver per fight).

Charger

Would be usable if it was a passive or just cost your action, but spending your bonus action in exchange for only 5 damage and not being able to combo other abilities with it makes this one a no-go.

Mage Slayer

Want to fuck with casters? That's what Wizardsbane Oil and Arrows of Arcane Interference are for. Don't waste a feat on those squishy nerds.

Shield Master

Makes you tankier without making you more resilient to actually dangerous conditions like stuns. Don't spend feats around avoiding damage - enemies can't damage you when they're dead.

Medium Armour Master

Decent effects in the early game (more the AC than the stealth) but obsoleted by magic items that give you these effects or better for free.

Heavy Armor Master

-3 damage, only from nonmagical sources, in a game where most heavy armor users will have more health than they ever need? Not worth a feat.

Tough

Gives less HP at level 12 than a level 5 Aid cast, which hits the entire party.

Crossbow Expert

Crossbows in BG3 already get the main feature that makes this good in tabletop for free. Instead you get the ability to hit from point blank range (you should not be doing this) and a slight improvement to a mediocre ability. Pass.

Athlete

Don't sacrifice one of your ability points for the ability to stand up faster and jump a little farther. There is a level 1 ritual spell which triples your jump distance.

Lightly/Moderately/Heavily Armored/Weapon Master

You're better off getting your proficiencies through multiclassing instead of feats, even with the ability score bonus.

Ritual Caster

Take a level in Wizard.

Magic Initiate X

Take a level in X.

Durable

This is what healing potions are for, and it's hard to run out.

Performer

Just play a Bard. It's a really good class, I promise.

Skilled

A feat on extra skill proficiencies, in a game where you can build an entire party to cover the handful of actual relevant skills? Come on now.

Dungeon Delver

Worst feat in the game. Not only are its stated benefits complete ass, its main feature is glitched and offers no benefits.

[oltammefru]

Let's talk about the Surging Waves 15 version of the IS3 Ending 3 bossfight, because it's kind of really interesting. Personally I think it's a pretty great fight, but the way in which it is great almost feels like unintentional or an accident and it's kind of baffling.

First off, the bossfight is really restrictive in what you can do; there are only 2 strats for it that are even remotely consistent:

Bursting Skadi down before she transforms.

Cancelling her transformation with a properly timed Weedy S3 blast, and either repeat this, or use the extra time its bought to you set up and burst Skadi down.

This is because if you let her transform the fight is basically just over unless you have either Fincatcher's Shawl or an extremely fucking buffed up Yato2 that can revert her to singer form (and even then you still have to set up and try to kill her again).

Nonetheless I think the D15 Skadi fight is a very interesting fight even if it's incredibly restrictive because it has one of the most interesting bossfight mechanics in the game.:

That's right, i'm talking about Tear Spawn Manipulation. Other than one element of randomness that you can ignore if you play right, the tiles that Skadi spawns tears on is deterministic.

Each time she spawns a tear, it'll spawn on the (unoccupied) melee tile with the most number of units within the 8 tiles surrounding it. If there are multiple tied tiles, it'll pick one of them at random but you can avoid that by making sure there's only 1 tile with the most number of operators surrounding it. (I'm not 100% sure if "units" is "operators + non-invincible units like summons" or "units" in general although I'd think its the former. PRTS says "units" but doesn't clarify.)

This one of the coolest fucking bossfight mechanics HG has ever cooked up. It forces you to pay attention to your positioning extremely carefully, because every one of them affects how the fights play out. There's a ton of room for smart play here where you place down an aoe medic and then tear spawn location manipulate both the tears to be within range of the AoE medic, or you manipulate a tear to a specific location so you can deploy a DPS unit to sit on the tear and deal damage to Skadi. In my opinion, this mechanic alone turns the D15 Skadi fight from "not very good and quite one dimensional" to "damn this fight kind of Fucks." The fight still forces you to burst Skadi down (unless you're Weedy gaming), but it makes the whole process of trying to figure out how to optimally do that with your team and building your enable to enable it to be so incredibly interesting. And the thing is:

They never tell you this anywhere. This mechanic is not documented anywhere in game. I have not been able to find a single English language source that states that this mechanic is a thing that exists. It does! And it's really neat and I think genuinely one of the coolest things they've done in a bossfight anywhere. But they don't ever bother to inform you about this. I think it's probably pretty likely that less than 0.1% of the English speaking playerbase knows about this? Like you designed (maybe accidentally?) an incredibly banger fight but didn't bother to tell about the thing that makes it as good as it? It's baffling.

[thecreaturecodex]

Azata, Aeolaeka

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[Sponsored by @razzelmire​, from Pathfinder 2e. I’m glad someone at Paizo is of the same mind as me as far as “rock cycle = naturally chaotic process”. I have a protean of plate tectonics in the works. Because the original flavor text stressed how they make deals with mortals, I wanted to make sure they were at the HD cap for planar ally and planar binding spells.]

Azata, Aeolaeka CR 12 CG Outsider (extraplanar) This beautiful humanoid is seemingly carved from stone and twice the height of a typical human. They have satyr-like features, with curling horns and hoofed legs.

Aeolaekas are sometimes called stone azatas, as they embody the chaos of rock and earth. Any substance that can become dust or diamonds is seen by the azatas as embodying chaotic potential. They are, however, more patient than most other azatas, as such transformations tend to require geological timescales to occur. They are often contacted by mortal summoners for their steady heads and willingness to make lasting pacts. Some of the angelic statues found in city squares or public buildings might even by an aeolaeka waiting patiently for the time when its contract needs to be fulfilled and it must fight to protect the innocent.

An aeolaeka is an implacable foe, batting aside lesser enemies in order to concentrate on the one it considers most dangerous (often the one dealing the most collateral damage). If facing a mass of enemies, they can crush them with an avalanche of magical boulders, but wouldn’t dare use this ability if innocents might be caught in the crossfire. They might make hit and run attacks if in a cave or on solid ground, using earth glide to take enemies unaware, but only if their charges are suitably protected without their direct physical presence. All aeolaekas are willing to fight to the death against the forces of evil if they must.

When not attending to mortal affairs, aeolaekas are often found admiring geological processes. As they are immortal and patient, one might remain in a cave for millennia to watch how stalactites and stalagmites grow and crumble, whereas another might live atop a mountain to monitor its erosion versus uplift. They often take the long term view, which makes them slightly at odds with typical azatas, but they get along well with creatures of elemental earth, even lawful ones such as shaitans. They often fight against evil elemental creatures, particularly salamanders and efreets.

A typical aeolaeka is twelve feet tall.

Aeolaeka               CR 12 XP 19,200 CG Large outsider (azata, chaos, earth, extraplanar, good) Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +16, tremorsense 60 ft. Defense AC 28, touch 13, flat-footed 24 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +15 natural) hp 150 (12d10+84) Fort +15, Ref +8, Will +13 DR 15/cold iron and good; Immune electricity, petrifaction; Resist cold 10, fire 10; SR 23 Offense Speed 30 ft., burrow 30 ft (earth glide) Melee +1 holy warhammer +17/+12/+7 (2d6+6/x3 plus 2d6 to non-good), slam +11 (1d8+2) or 2 slams +16 (1d8+5) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks earthbind, liberate the earth, sacred hammer Spell-like Abilities CL 12th, concentration +15 3/day—locate creature, stone tell, wall of stone 1/day—blade barrier (DC 19), flesh to stone (DC 19), stone to flesh Statistics Str 21, Dex 18, Con 25, Int 14, Wis 21, Cha 16 Base Atk +12; CMB +18 (+20 bull rush); CMD 32 (34 vs. bull rush) Feats Awesome Blow, Combat Reflexes, Improved Bull Rush, Persuasive, Power Attack, Stand Still Skills Acrobatics +15 (+19 when jumping), Climb +13, Diplomacy +22, Intimidate +22, Knowledge (engineering, geography) +10, Knowledge (nature, planes) +17, Perception +16, Stealth +11 (+19 among stone); Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth among stone Languages Celestial, Draconic, Infernal, Terran, truespeech SQ freeze (statue) Ecology Environment any land or underground (Elysium) Organization solitary, pair or garden (3-8) Treasure standard (+1 warhammer, other treasure) Special Abilities Earthbind (Su) As a standard action, an aeolaeka can target a creature within 120 feet with supernatural bindings. If the creature fails a DC 19 Fortitude save, it falls safely up to 120 feet, and cannot fly or levitate for 12 rounds if it touches the ground. If it succeeds its save, it falls 60 feet, but its ability to fly is unaffected. The save DC is Charisma based. Liberate the Earth (Su) As a standard action, an aeolaeka can create a 60 foot line of rolling boulders. All creatures in the area take 10d6 bludgeoning damage and fall prone; a successful DC 19 Reflex save halves the damage and negates the prone condition. This damage counts as magic and good for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. The area affected becomes difficult terrain for 24 hours, after which the stones crumble into dust. An aeolaeka must wait 1d4 rounds between uses of this ability. The save DC is Charisma based. Sacred Hammer (Su) Any bludgeoning weapon wielded by an aeolaeka gains the holy weapon quality for as long as the aeolaeka wields it. Thrown weapons or projectiles lose this quality 1 round after being launched.

[theworldvsyoshiko]

So, the current state of affairs...

The settlement's in pretty much its final shape. A few of the original buildings are still hanging around, but they're almost solely used for utility.

All the living area stuff is clustered around the rec hall. Everyone's got their very own Extremely Impressive bedroom, except the Thavon/Josefin/Payne polycule, who still share one. Still in the process of making rugs for all of them. Toward the right is the new hospital, and past that, the new guest rooms. There are now six paid guest rooms of roughly the same quality as the ones the actual members have, and the old rec room has been converted to free/cheap shared guest rooms. 18 guest beds, 8 hospital beds, and 4 prisoner beds, and at times most of those are full.

There's also a kill pacification-of-new-friends box to the south, since everything's walled in now. Apart from the spotlight, those are all tranq turrets off to the right. The lack of traps + lack of battle animals or mechs + use of nonlethal weapons means that fights are still pretty dicey in here, even with the raid difficulty set at like 50%.

Out of the 22 factions on the planet, 5 are allies, 5 more are neutral, and the rest are hostile. Not bad progress. Unfortunately, one of the factions...

... is perma-hostile, and can't be reasoned with. Nothing I've been able to do by fucking around in dev mode or anything can change this, so I think that probably Bandits don't have a generator for non-hostile pawns. Some other groups are like that, and thus can never be non-hostile. I thought I'd disabled them all at the game start, but guess I missed one.

So the Dancing Flock is gonna bring peace to the planet apart from these very stubborn bandits.

Aelanna "Anna" Cessara

Still not much to say about her. Anna spends all day cooking, gardening, and doctoring. Anna and Josefin have been close friends pretty much the entire time, and if it weren't for the penalties for non-human anatomy, they'd definitely be banging by now. Josefin is literally her only friend.

Josefin Xiontara

Just look at her. With 18 Shooting, an archotech arm, and the Askbarn bonuses, she's great in a shootout on the rare occasion that she gets to use an actual weapon. As it is she just makes masterwork furniture all day. You'd think that with double passion for Crafting she'd be great at it by now, but this group's needed so much construction that it's just about a full-time job.

Josefin actually gets along really well with almost everyone. She doesn't even hold a grudge against Saio for her still-broken nose. However, there's one exception: Sonia. That sassy little brat can't get enough of insulting her.

Erika Belsaas

She's now the group's Scalpelizer, their official super-doctor, so she's pretty much running the hospital. That, research, and getting high accounts for pretty much her entire day.

Similarly to Josefin, Erika likes everyone. Unlike Josefin, almost nobody likes her back that much. Erika really likes insulting people. Not sure what that's about, since there's no reason she should. But, while Erika considers about half the group to be her friends, only two of them actually think of her as a friend back. Presumably everybody else isn't fond of being compared to ungainly animals by a stoned moose.

Stork Saio

Saio's still the group's official artist, and he's damn good at it. (Apart from the Really Nice Pants incident.) He's pretty much constantly making sculptures these days. His melee skill... well, he still gets to use it sometimes, but I try to keep him and Payne out of combat when I can. They're too kill-y.

Saio only really likes Payne and Josefin, and barely has an opinion on anybody else. This includes Trav, who's his lone romantic option as a gay guy. For now, at least.

Thavon Rovon

Being the local mechanitor really should be a big deal, but this isn't a group that has a lot of use for, say Centipede Blasters. I probably should start progressing through the mechtech tree a bit, though. Thavon's melee skill is pointless. She's the group's second-best crafter, so she gets saddled with making a lot of the 'it's nice to have quality but I don't really care' stuff like clothes, and she trades off research duties with Erika.

Thavon's married to Payne, of course. Thavon's up there with Josefin in being pretty close with the whole group. ... except Josefin. Somehow these two have shared a bedroom and Payne for like half a year and they have basically no opinion of each other. I'd blame the fact that Josefin's always running around doing construction and Thavon spends all day in the workshop, but... so does Payne.

Willow Payne

20 melee hell yeah. Also, in addition to the combat aura and flight powers, Nephilim also have Lay On Hands, which is an instant wound-mending, similar to the one Sanguophages get. That's been such a fucking godsend for this whole hospital thing, because somebody can walk in half-dead and Payne just zaps them back into one piece. Payne's good at enough stuff that she stays pretty busy.

Married to Thavon, sleeping with Josefin, etc. Payne is so fucking pretty that most of the colony loves her, but she's only fond of a few people in return. And, she's the one person to outright hate someone. She cannot stand Saio. -41 relationship. She'd get a mood boost if he died. I think they have general low compatibility, but the two also got into a fight a while back. Since they're two melee monsters, it did not go well for anybody involved, and Payne ended up on the floor with about half her bones broken. She's holding a grudge.

Travis "Trav" Roth

Trav... isn't good at a lot, but another shooter is nice, and his weird fox powers are pretty handy in combat. The Animals skill would be great, if this group had any use for war animals. As it is, I've assigned Trav to handle the group's Gauranlen tree. It makes little fighty plant guys, don't worry about it. Getting some melee tanks out of it. Anyway yeah he spends about 6 hours a day pruning a magical tree because he isn't good at much else.

Trav's got it rough. He considers Payne, Thavon, and Anna to be friends, but none of them like him in return. The only person who does consider him a friend is somebody that Trav moderately dislikes.

Sonia Pseugite

Listen... she's 11. She's working on it. She got garbage growth at 10, thanks to showing up when she was already partway through that age bracket. She also got intensely unlucky though--she hit 10 right when she was literally about 20 in-game minutes away from ticking up to the next growth level, which would have given her another passion. As it is... I gave her a gun and she's been pitching in as a junior nurse, so hopefully some day she'll be good at something except digging. Right now she's like some kind of mole racial stereotype.

Sonia really likes Payne. Literally nobody likes Sonia. Nobody really hates her either. Not sure why that is. She's new, but she's not that new, compared to...

Luis "Silver" Vital

Okay look yes I never announced Silver when he showed up. He arrived here as a pirate, and a 7-flame Genie who was only a teenager was just too good to pass up. I mean, that Crafting is the main draw though. As soon as he arrived I put him in charge of making charge weapons for everyone who can shoot. They don't need them often, but when they need to fight, they need actual guns.

Despite being a socially-inept newcomer, Silver's friends with most of the group already. He's even the closest thing Sonia has to a friend.

[utilitycaster]

Bells Hells Level 8

Disclaimers as per usual: If I said something incorrect, corrections are welcome and encouraged. If I simply did not expound upon every single possible choice open to a character; if my opinions on mechanics differ from yours; or if you have wild speculation, please make your own post.

Blood hunter info is taken from the D&D Beyond content, which is subject to change, so don't @ me if it does.

Non-multiclassed characters (and Laudna if she keeps leveling in warlock) get an ASI or feat this level! Thoughts on that below. Non-multiclassed full spellcasters (FCG and Imogen, assuming neither multiclass) get an additional fourth level spell slot.

Chetney: Currently Blood Hunter 6/Rogue 1. Blood hunter 7th level is a big level: he gets an additional crimson rite (lightning or cold damage), he gains 10 feet to his speed per round at all times plus improved jump height/distance (making him faster than anyone but Ashton) and his unarmed strikes gain a +1 to attacks and damage and, when crimson rite is active on his claws, his attacks are considered magical. A second level of rogue grants Chetney cunning action (dash, disengage, or hide). Based on his build and Travis's style of play, I suspect he won't use hide much and disengage only rarely. Narratively, particularly given this episode, and mechanically, I would go for the blood hunter level.

Laudna: A fourth level in warlock grants her an ASI or feat and another cantrip. A fifth level in sorcerer grants her access to third level sorcerer spells, another spell known, and another sorcery point. I'd take the ASI to max out charisma, personally; while she is ten cantrips in a trenchcoat, eldritch blast is the only one that really matters (though I am a chill touch fan). It also makes a lot of sense for her to begin embracing her new warlock powers more now that Delilah is seemingly gone.

FCG: FCG should take the ASI to wisdom since theirs is particularly low; I would not consider feats. They also get Destroy Undead for undead of challenge rating 1 or lower; as previously stated, an additional fourth level spell slot; and a subclass feature. The L8 cleric features are typically either Potent Spellcasting (add WIS mod to cantrip damage rolls) or Divine Strike (weapon attacks deal an extra 1d8 of some form of damage). Based on the weapon use I think Divine Strike is better, but either would be fitting.

Fearne: If she takes a second level of rogue, then again, it's dash, disengage, or hide (which to be fair she will benefit from more than Chetney). If she takes a 7th level in druid, she gets a fourth level spell slot and access to fourth level spells, which for druids is a pretty good list. She will specifically get access to aura of life and fire shield, both excellent spells. Aura of life in particular could be a game changer against Otohan, as it grants automatic healing to 0 HP creatures and resistance to necrotic damage within its radius. I would recommend she progress in druid rather than rogue.

Imogen: Imogen gets another sorcery point, another spell, another 4th level spell slot, and an ASI or feat. I'm inclined to go with an ASI to Charisma and intelligence; charisma for obvious mechanical optimization, and intelligence for narrative and skill-based benefit. If she decides to take a feat that grants a +1 to Charisma, actor is fun though not necessarily super in-character; skill expert is also useful.

Orym: Orym gets another ASI/feat. Fighters get a trillion ASI opportunities and his stats are quite good, so I'm looking at feats. Feats skew towards martial classes anyway so there's a lot for him, but I'm inclined towards either Sentinel (Beau and Yasha both had it, and it is very good for melee fighters) or Mage Slayer (Cerrit had it, and it is also very good for melee fighters). Alternately, Liam has put in the RP for me to think that Healer would be an interesting and fitting choice.

Ashton: Ashton also gets an ASI or feat. I think the smart thing is to max out strength or take an ASI to both strength and con, positioning them to take a +1 to strength feat at L12. However, 18 isn't bad, so some feat options include Sentinel; Tavern Brawler, which I'd use to max out CON at this stage; and Crusher, though I'd personally take the ASI to strength and con now and take Crusher as a L12 feat.

[lizzorasaurus]

Fo you have a favourite class to play in Pathfinder? If so tell us about it!

Oh this is a tough one!

I really like Bard because it's versatile and you're doing a little bit of everything! Aster, my first bard character, was a melee build, so getting to hit things good and doing spellcasting support was fun as hell!

I'm also a former theater kid, so of course I love playing bards.

Paladin is another favorite! Again - hitting things good, some healing, some spellcasting - doing a little bit of everything!

I got a taste of mythic mechanics playing a paladin, and now im hooked, LOL. Id love to play a non-mythic paladin some day cause they're still fun as hell to play!

Wizard is also a fave, and i actually have a few wizards lined up for future campaigns! Im playing one rn and he sucks so bad (affectionate) but its part of the fun of being terrible at low levels and have phenomenal cosmic powers at higher ones.

Special mention to Monk because nyoom and punch a bunch.

[rhotanored]

Character Summary: Arym pyr Ord

alias/nicknames: Art, Rabbit, Grandpa

gender: more or less male

age: looks around 30

zodiac: ----

abilities  + talents:

a recklessly talented driver with a penchant for high speeds and stunts that definitely should have gotten him killed by now

a capable engineer focused in communication devices

machina technician/mechanic focused in vehicles (and bullshitting his way through juryrigging to Make Things Work(tm))

capable sniper, decent melee combatant (gunblades, H2H)

alignment: lawful / neutral / chaotic / good / neutral / evil / true

sins: envy / greed / gluttony / lust / pride / sloth / wrath

virtues: charity / chastity / diligence / humility / justice / kindness / patience

languages: Fluent in common and Garlean, a hodgepodge of words, phrases and basic understanding of languages out of Landis, Dalmasca and Bozja

family: none by blood that he can presently remember

friends: Arym is difficult to befriend through all the jagged edges of his personality, but beneath that is a man desperate for camaraderie and understanding, both of which he accidentally stumbled into with Sergius. They share a penchant for dry, black humor and past experiences that leave them both with near-uncomfortable common ground. Arym is flighty and skittish, but Sergius has managed to be an anchor he can't (and doesn't want to) cast off. While he'd like to think he's taken III Squad (comprised of Max Sawyer, Victoria Castellus and Laelia Belisar) under his wing, it's more like the other way around. They gave him a reason to keep fighting, but now that he's pursuing a more reckless path, he's putting distance between them.

sexuality: heterosexual / bisexual / pansexual / homosexual / demisexual / asexual / unsure / other

relationship: single / partnered / married / widowed / open relationship / divorced / not ready for dating yet / it’s complicated

libido: sex god / very high / high / average / low / very low / non-existent / who knows

build: slender / average / athletic / muscular / curvy / other (partial machina)

hair: white / blonde / brunette / red / black

eyes: brown / blue / gray / green / black / other (orange LEDs baybee)

skin: pale / fair / olive / light brown / brown / dark / other (gray)

height: 6'1"

scars: so many. a lot of burn scars leftover from the accident, surgical scars from where he's had various organs replaced and/or augmented, gunshot wounds, puncture wounds, lacerations, you name it he's nearly died from it

dogs or cats || birds or bugs || snakes or spiders || coffee or tea || ice cream or cake || fruits or vegetables || sandwich or soup || magic or melee || sword shield dagger or bow gun|| summer or winter || spring or autumn || past or future present

A few songs that remind you of them:

Sintesis - Otrebor

The Mission - The Great Wight Dread, Computerbandit

Drive It Like You Stole It - The Glitch Mob

The Driver - Ollie Wride

Get no pleasure from the pressure, all that you feed To walk like every modern man I see you, filling up your lungs like ammunition to a gun You take a swing but you can't take me down

Keep Running - Geographer

first they tell you to learn then tell you you’re wrong then they tell you to live a lie if you wanna live at all they take away your reason then they take you for a fool they say there’s no point leaving now even if you could I know that you’ll carry I know that you’ll carry me home baby it’s scary but I don’t think that’s where we belong

Vignette - Koethe

Sometimes I lie awake and think of what I’ve done Am I asleep I can’t believe that I’m the only one Sometimes I lie awake and think of what I’ve said Am I asleep I can’t believe that its all in my head Ive begun to think I’m every thing but starting to forget I cant recall my footing it’s easier to pretend Somewhere in the vignette

This Ain't No Hymn - Saint Saviour

So let me be, so let me be, so let me be So let me be I'll follow someone that I can see I'll worship someone that I can be

'Cause it depends on you and you alone Whether you do, whether you don't Don't believe in more than flesh and bone Grab on and hold, grab on and hold

Tagged by: @sergiusreports

Tagging:​ @snowbird-down, @norhimorovine, @autochthonousone, @endangered-liaison, @high-and-away (I dunno who's been tagged already aAAAAA)

[bri3000-kimiyosh]

Hikari Naegi DR3 Design

UDG OC Hikari Naegi in her new her dr3 design, Clothes and gear made from the latest Future Foundation tech. All thx to Togami, with some help of her training from Toko( genecider syo)

I will do a couple of more parts of this for you all to see the gear better, Let me know what ya think and if you had a suggestion to add to her design I'm all ears.

I was inspired by the old beta pics of action Komaru and I thought that Kari can be this in DR3

Here is the pic for refence -> i.redd.it/zuee8urq83y31.jpg /

This one below is for her personality and expressions not including hair cut

static.wikia.nocookie.net/dang…

She has red scrunchies, tech goggles to help her during her fights, red jacket, black undershirt, gadget belt to hold her megaphone and other gadgets( and her phone), black shorts with long black stockings( its not show in this but I forgot to enable them lol) and black tech boots.

Future Foundation watch, she can use this to activate her outfit( think girl transformation or quick sailormoon style troupe, also can be use as a map, phone, activate auto shield or she can do it herself just gotta do a certain move to trigger it. was going for stuff like batman or other heroes use in comics or shows back in the day. Also needs to charge each day.

A cute new backpack, a cat pack that can carry other items, snacks, etc lol.

High tech Boots, helps give her fast speed during her battles, high jump, run along walls, and if she wants to kick a momokuma in the face they can help make a good dent in its face. But not too strong to send flying into building or destroy on impact.

refence here - danganronpa.fandom.com/wiki/Fi… High tech gloves, helps out in a melee with enemies, can small but impactful energy blast, can be use to tase enemies close range, helps keep megaphone recharged to have infinite bullets.

OC Hikari Naegi -> ( ヒカリ ) ( 苗偽 ) she is the younger sister of Makoto Naegi in a different universe.

Some Fanfiction Art for my fanfic Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girls AU Hikari Naegi

This art was made with Koikatsu

Mod showcase scene was borrowed from the koikatsu discord and pixiv scene sharing pages, credit goes to the original creator.

WARNING its a nsfw Japanese game but I make non lewd art with it public platforms that's rated E for everyone.

[furymint]

header: 1 / 2

alias/nicknames: eli (me shortform typing lol), ellie (samu), lilac (pseudonym), cadieux (nol. and xan. its great), any array of words starting w c (wyda)

gender: male, he/him

age: 24ish

zodiac: leo, halone

abilities + talents: piano & organ, singing, wound & surgical nurse, magical wards, talking complete philosophical nonsense

alignment: lawful / neutral / chaotic / good / neutral / evil / true

sins: envy / greed / gluttony / lust / pride / sloth / wrath

virtues: charity / chastity / diligence / humility / justice / kindness / patience

languages: common, ishgardian, ancient ishgardian, glove, fan, shorthand, gay

family: Josseloux Cadieux--adoptive father, Mathieu Cadieux--grandfather, Julia Cadieux--cousin. + others but not of relevance

friends: bells <3. he’s also friends w my other ishgardian npcs, incl ephemie, kayden, and vera. there’s also a gaggle of artist-pacifists he hangs with

sexuality: heterosexual / bisexual / pansexual / homosexual / demisexual / asexual / unsure / other

relationship: single / partnered / married / widowed / open relationship / divorced / not ready for dating yet / it’s complicated

libido: sex god / very high / high / average / low / very low / non-existent

build: slender / average / athletic / muscular / curvy / other

hair: white / blonde / brunette / red / black / other: pink

eyes: brown / blue / gray / green / black / other

skin: pale / fair / olive / light brown / brown / dark / other: grey

height: 6'5"

scars: none of particular obviousness or relevance, although one of his feet is a bit gnarled after it was shot

dogs or cats || birds or bugs || snakes or spiders || coffee or and tea || ice cream or cake || fruits or vegetables || sandwich or soup || magic or melee || sword shield dagger or bow || summer or winter || spring or autumn || past or future

A few songs that remind you of them:

all this and heaven too - florence + the machine

lungful - douglas dare

i talk to the rain - yuki kajiura

tagged by: @norhimorovine!

[aircommndr]

𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄'𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐓

Name: STARSCREAM OF VOS

Alias: Screamer

Gender: Nonbinary, Masc-aligned & Masc-presenting

Age: Ugh I hate trying to out a number to it just know hes adult and hes old but not THAT old lolol

Species: Cybertronian

Zodiac: aquarius / aries / cancer / capricorn / gemini / leo / libra / pisces / sagittarius / scorpio / taurus / virgo / unknown

Abilities / Talents: Starscream is an outlier, so his main ability is his Screech. Its capable of disrupting radio frequencies and breaking glass. He also is quite literally immortal. As for talents, hes very good at persuasion, as well as being shown to be a very capable leader (when he gets his priorities in check). Hes also an amazing flier

Alignment: lawful / neutral / chaotic / good / neutral / evil / true

Religion: Agnostic. Much like various others have said, Starscream may agree that the "Gods" Exist/Existed, but he does not follow them. He feels they abandoned Cybertronians and should not be on such a pedestal.

Sins: envy / greed / gluttony / lust / pride / sloth / wrath

Virtues: charity / chastity / diligence / humility / justice / kindness / patience

Languages: Cybertronian, English, Klingon (Thats right bitches, its canon on my blog)

Family: depends on verse

Friends: As close as he gets, Rattrap, his trine / Others verse dependent

Sexual Orientation: heterosexual / bisexual / pansexual / homosexual / demisexual / asexual / unsure / questioning / other

Relationship Status: single / dating / married / widowed / open relationship / other (depends on verse)

Libido: sex god / very high / high / average / low / very low / non-existent

Build: twig / bony / slender (holoform, mostly with lean muscle) / average / athletic / curvy / chubby / obese

Hair: white / blonde / brunette / red / black (holoform) / other (N/A)

Eyes: brown / blue / green / black / other (red) (auburn, holoform)

Skin: pale / fair / olive / light brown (holoform)/ brown / very brown / black / other (grey)

Height: under 3 foot / 3-4 foot / 4-5 foot / 5-6 foot (holoform, 5'7) / 6-7 foot / above 7 foot (25 ft)

Weight: under 100 pounds / 100-150 pounds / 150-200 pounds / 200-250 pounds / above 250 pounds (i have no idea im bad at math)

Scars: Various scars across his frame, hes been through enough to gather quite the collection

Facial Features: Sharp. Handsome ;)

Tattoos: Never thought about it till now... hm. Fuck it, ya boy has a tramp stamp (or would we call it a bumper sticker in this fandom???) that says "Transform and Rise Up". He got it back in the Early Days of the war and nowadays he just tries to hide it LOL

Dogs or Cats?

Birds or Hamsters?

Red or Blue? (tough choice he likes blue lol)

Yellow or Green?

Black or White?

Coffee or Tea?

Ice Cream or Cake?

Fruits or Vegetables?

Sandwich or Soup?

Magic or Melee?

Sword or Bow?

Summer or Winter?

Spring or Autumn?

The Past or The Future?

tagged by: @blackwldcw and @13urningstars i think?

tagging: @warriorsparked (for meg and/or shocky, whoever u wanna) , @manaborn , @biggest-ultra-mags , @staticsqueaks , @trustme-imamedic , anyone else who wants to

[kalina-c]

Part 3 of this extended rant about Split Damage in dark souls games lol. (forgot about how much a straight reblog makes it hard to scroll down to part 2, rip)

Part 1

Part 2 (ctrl-f "so let's count up the ways")

So anyway the really actually useful part of "split damage sucks," isn't really about split damage or even enemy defenses at all. It's about character builds and stat distributions.

Let's look at the Onyx Blade from Dark Souls 3. Split infusion between physical and dark damage, with fire on top when you use the weapon art; but that doesn't really make it a bad weapon when that's the exact same damage type as the pvp meta weapon, the Dark Lothric Knight Sword, and the fire buff on top is literally more of a damage increase than the Lightning Pine Bundle is.

What really makes it a hard pick is the four-way scaling distribution. This doesn't even make it a bad weapon on those terms, this just makes it an expensive weapon to get to its highest damage numbers and a stat distribution that's hard to fit into level limit metas or new game runs. Like at no-limit 99/99/99/99 you can, strictly speaking, get this weapon to high attack power, but it's hard to hit scaling caps in more than one stat at a time in the situations that most players would experience.

This is a build mismatch more than it is an indictment of split infusions or even multi-stat weapons. Like, again, Sword of Night and Flame in Elden Ring was one of the most broken weapons ever on the day one patch, and that's with also a four-way scaling split and three-way damage type split. It's the sheer motion value on the day one ash of war beam that made it cracked.

This isn't even a factor of elemental damage at all, really. The pure-physical quality build traditional in dark souls has actually been a sub-optimal build in Bloodborne for new players to take, with the linked endurance neglect being about the only practical way to fit it into a new game run/pvp level limit meta. Split-stat weapons are incredibly powerful in Bloodborne, with the first weapon on that list in particular (Ludwig's Holy Blade) being a popular favorite as the easy and obvious biggest AR in the realm. But the difficulty of fitting the blood levels in actually makes this pure physical build and weapon exemplify all the *actual* shortcomings behind the reaction of "split damage sucks".

And this is like kind of the reason I think the original reason for "split damage sucks" was trying an elemental weapon on the wrong build for its scaling and then blaming the weapon for it. Within Dark Souls 1, absolutely the context where the canard got popularized,

Velka's Rapier is one of the biggest ROI weapons in the history of this game design and easily the best new game sidearm for a sorcery build. (Its damage kind of falls off on latter NG+ cycles, as does twinkling titanite weapons generally in that game.)

Enchanted infusions are easily the best melee normal attack damage for a sorcery build. Great Scythe is above-average ROI, Claymore is universally good, Longsword is easy and safe, and Zweihander is one of the most fantastic weapons generally. Enchanted Rapier is probably the biggest riposte damage on a new game sorcerer.

Physical weapon + buff is kind of garbage for an all-in sorcerer and caster build. The *steep* drop-off in base damage on using a physical scaling weapon with a completely non-physical build is way more of a loss than you gain from the "superior" buff damage, if it isn't even already the case that the magic AR alone on a Magic or Enchanted Longsword just outscales anything you can get from Tin Crystallization Catalyst + Crystal Magic Weapon.

My first target goal weapon was the Moonlight Butterfly Horn, because it's one of the few 100% pure magic damage weapons in the entire series and I read that Split Damage Sucks. My friends, the purely Unsplit Damage Moonlight Butterfly Horn is one of the most mediocre weapons in the entire series. Its damage is meh and easily outclassed by a Magic Longsword; its moveset and motion values are weaker and redundant in the face of Velka's Rapier; Great Scythe is a far better mage weapon on multiple levels; etc.

So really, the common canards about Split Damage Sucks and Weapon Buffs Are Better really only make sense from the perspective of an all-in physical build with minimal dip into int for bare pre-requisites. Being a mage gender from the very beginning gave me the opposite possible experience of *checks notes* every character build common sense, take, and meta in the history of the world on Dark Souls and the Dark Souls cousin Elden Ring.

---

Addendum

One of the comments I've seen among the various Carian Grandeur one shot malenia videos is that Carian Grandeur is ironically one of the weakest ashes in the game on its own, which made no sense to me. It's a comment on a one shot demonstration video, so we're clearly talking about damage output and not the difficulty of landing a full charge, and the base motion value on Grandeur full charge is already among the stronger ones for ashes of war. The motion value on soul great swords in Elden Ring generally are very high — the Carian Greatsword spell and all three great sword ashes do really high burst damage that can one shot multiple field enemies at once, and the three stage charge on grandeur gives a big multiplier even before you apply a mountain of buffs. This common reaction to magic attacks being magic really isn't helping them beat the allegations that all dark souls build theory is pure physical builds expecting pure magic tools to do maximum damage on a pure physical build with zero int or magic investment, etc.

~

Somewhere else I've gotten a comment that I'm wrong about Split Damage, because sorcery builds in elden ring can use meteor spells to get around magic resistance, and,

My friends,

Elden Ring meteor spells are the most split damage in the world

Meteor spells are boosted by physical damage buffs and will do high damage on magic defensive enemies. They'll have that portion of their damage tanked by physically resistant enemies, so it's a confirmed physical damage spell school.

But also

Meteor spells are boosted by the terra magica spell and the magic scorpion charm and the magic cracked tear, all of which only boost magic elemental damage. And it's only part of the damage, as fextra likes to call the scorpion charm boost insignificant (hah).

Meteor spells are by definition fully split damage. And not only are they split damage, they are the best damage in the game. Rock Sling deletes bosses and enemies for free, Meteorite is pretty much the strongest sorcery until you get to the snow field, and Astel meteor is by design the strongest sorcery in the game and way more damage than most every other option with whatever build. Split damage is the very specifically best damage in elden ring.

[skunts-own-truth]

I have talked to a few people about the Legions and their special rules in the new edition of the Horus Heresy. Some folks don’t know where to look to find them online, and I happen to have both the Liber Hereticus and the Liber Astartes. So, why not compile their special rules here, so everyone can get a good idea of how these Legions play? Each Legion, be they traitor or loyalist, can be played as traitors or loyalists. Some Legions even have exclusive warlord abilities for playing a Legion force outside of its side in the Heresy war. I won’t be posting Warlord traits here, I mention this simply because I think it’s cool that there is support for things like Loyalist Emperor’s Children and Traitor Blood Angels. That said, let’s get to the rules.

Traitors:

Emperor’s Children- The Emperor’s Children have “Flawless Execution,” an ability that allows models with this rule to gain a +1 to their Initiative on a successful charge, even if the charge was disordered, and after any other rules that would boost their initiative. This, of course, makes it very likely that the Emperor’s Children will fight first in a combat, which is a very nice little bonus. Vehicles with this special rule gain a +1 to Hit rolls made with Defensive weapons in a reaction. The Emperor’s Children also have access to the Advanced Reaction “the Perfect Counter,” which allows them to make a charge at an enemy unit charging them, or make a shooting attack at an enemy unit charging them.

Iron Warriors- Wrack & Ruin is an awesome name for a special rule, and it gives Iron Warriors units +1 Strength to shooting attacks or melee attacks against Dreadnoughts, Automata, Vehicles, or Building units. Additionally, they have “Bitter Fury,” as an advanced reaction. This allows Iron Warriors to fire at an enemy that shoots at them with double the amount of shots, but the shooting attacks all get the Gets Hot special rule which will trigger on a 1 or 2. This could be devastating for either side, which I adore.

Night Lords- The VIIIth Legion has “a Talent for Murder” as their special rule, which grants them a +1 to Wound and to Armor Penetration rolls made against foes who are pinned, falling back, or outnumbered for both melee and shooting. Kinda rude, but what do you expect from the Lords of the Night? They also have the advanced reaction “the Better Part of Valor,” which lets a Night Lords unit being charged by an enemy Fall Back as if it failed a moral check, but immediately regroup. If you fall back more than 12” away from the unit charging you, the charging unit may select another of your units that are within 12” to charge instead, if not, the charge fails.

World Eaters- Our angry lads get “Violence Incarnate,” which gives any charging World Eaters unit a +1 to attacks in addition to any other bonuses to attacks they may already have on a charge. They get this nice +1 even if the charge was considered Disordered. Their advanced reaction is “the Savage Tide,” which can be triggered when an enemy unit shoots at a unit of World Eaters. The World Eaters gain a Feel no Pain +5 against the incoming shots, and may immediately make a charge action after the shooting is resolved, and this charge can’t trigger an enemy reaction.

Death Guard- The XIVth legion are “Remorseless,” which gives their non-cavalry and artillery units the ability to ignore negatives or restrictions to movement, including terrain special rules and pinning, as long as the unit is making a normal move and not a run or a boost with a jump pack. Additionally, their units count as stationary when they move for the purpose of shooting attacks. Sticking with the Remorseless movement theme, their advanced reaction is called “Remorseless Advanced,” which can be activated when a shooting attack targets a Death Guard squad. They gain a Feel no Pain +4, pass all moral tests that would trigger from the shooting attack, and may move 7” in any direction.

Thousand Sons- All infantry and cavalry units gain the Psyker trait, which does not give them access to the core book’s psychic powers, but does give them these nifty little micro-reactions they can pick from. (I’m not writing them all here, sorry,) Also, any Independent character can be made into a full-blown core discipline Psyker for 15 points. Their advanced reaction is called “Fortress of the Mind,” which allows a unit of Tsons being shot at to take a psychic power test. If they pass, they gain a +3 Invulnerable save against the shooting attack. If they fail, they gain a +5 invuln save, and both the shooting squad and the defending squad suffer perils of the warp.

Sons of Horus- One of the two poster boy legions for 2e, these guys have “Merciless Fighters,” which imposes a -1 Strength to enemy melee attacks when charging Sons of Horus units, or if the enemy unit has been charged by Sons of Horus units. Sons of Horus vehicles inflict an additional +3 hits on ramming attacks. “Death Dealers” is their advanced reaction, which gives them a +1 to their BS to shoot at an enemy unit that has targeted them in a shooting attack.

Word Bearers- The “True Believers,” can never have their Leadership drop below a 6 for any reason, and in fight phase draws, the Word Bearers are always considered to win by 1 point. When getting shot at, a Word Bearers player may use “Glorious Martyrdom,” an advanced reaction that allows you to remove one model as a casualty in exchange for the entire enemy shooting attack to fail outright.

Alpha Legion- The XXth legion have “Lies and Obfuscation,” which makes all Alpha Legion units 2 extra inches away than where they actually are for the purpose of shooting, charges, and reactions made by an opposing player. Super annoying, and very fun. They have a second special rule called “the Rewards of Treachery,” which lets them buy any space marine unit from any legion, and play them as if they were just another Alpha Legion unit. “Smoke and Mirrors” is their advanced reaction, which allows a unit of Alpha Legion dudes getting shot at to redeploy anywhere within 12” +D6” scatter, from their starting position.

Loyalists:

Dark Angels- The 1st Legion’s special rule is called “Hexagrammaton,” which allows a player to select what “wing” a unit is from when building an army. Each wing of the Hexagrammaton has its own special rules, which gives the Dark Angels a pretty hefty amount of customization before play. This is not part of their special rule, but it should be noted that they also have the most Rites of War army compositions out of all the Legions, giving them even more customization. When charged, Dark Angels players may activate the “Angels of Death” advanced reaction. This allows them to take a Leadership test. If passed, the Dark Angels unit being charged gains Fearless and Fear (2,) and if failed they gain Stubborn and Fear (1,) until their next turn.

White Scars- The White Scars are “Swift to Action,” a special rule that gives all their models +1 to movement, and allows them to roll an extra die for determining first turn, or to steal the initiative. They select the highest result of the two dice rolled. Their advanced reaction is called “Chasing the Wind,” which can be activated if an enemy moves within 12” of a White Scars unit. The White Scars squad can immediately make a full-move in response to the opponent's movement.

Space Wolves- the VIth Legion unleashes it’s “Bestial Savagery,” allowing Space Wolves to run, fire snapshots in the shooting phase, and still charge all in the same turn. If a unit can’t make a run action, it gains a +1 WS on a charge instead. Vehicles gain a +1 Strength to ramming actions, and along with all this Space Wolves also have access to a number of special consuls such as the Thegn, Speaker of the Dead, and Caster of the Runes. Their advanced reaction is “No Prey Escapes the Wolves,” which allows them to make an initiative move towards an enemy and charge, during a turn in which an enemy moves within 12” of a Space Wolves unit.

Imperial Fists- The yellow poster boys of 2e have “Discipline and Resolve,” a special rule that gives them a +1 to hit for all Auto and Bolt weapons made for any shooting attack, including reactions. “The Best Defense” is their advanced reaction, which allows them to charge an enemy within 10” of an Imperial Fists unit within the enemy’s movement phase. If they fail the test, they do not make a surge move.

Blood Angels- The IXth legion’s rule is “Encarmine Fury,” a nasty special rule that lowers their target to Wound roll by 1 to a minimum of 2, in a turn where they successfully charged an enemy unit, even if the charge was disordered. Additionally, their vehicles gain a +1 Strength for their ramming attacks. Their reaction is “Wrath of Angels,” which allows them to get Shrouded +5 against an incoming shooting attack, and once that shooting attack is resolved, the Blood Angels squad may charge their attacker.

Iron Hands- The Iron Hands have “the Medusa’s Scales,” which decreases the strength of all shooting attacks made against non-vehicle Iron Hands units by 1. Vehicle units instead gain It Will Not Die (6+,) and if it already has It Will Not Die, the vehicle increases it by +1. Their advanced reaction is “the Gorgon’s Spite,” which is similar to the Iron Warriors’ own advanced reaction. The Gorgon’s Spite allows Iron Hands to shoot at a unit that has charged them with double their normal shooting attacks, except the attacks all gain Gets Hot. No cover saves may be made against these shots.

Ultramarines- The blue boys have the “Strength of Wisdom,” which gives shooting Ultramarines a +1 to hit rolls if another Ultramarine within 6” of them has already shot at the same target. “Unity of Purpose” is the Ultra’s advanced reaction, which allows the target of an enemy shooting attack to return fire along with a fellow unit of Ultramarines at the attacker.

Salamanders- “Blood of Fire” grants the Salamanders who have more than 1 wound or Hull Point the It Will Not Die (6+,) special rule, and their flamers, meltas, Volkites, and plasma weapons reduce the target number for their to wound rolls by 1. Their advanced reaction, “Duty is Sacrifice,” grants them +1 to WS, Strength, and Attacks when successfully charged by an enemy unit. At the end of the turn, the reacting player rolls a d6 for every model in their reacting unit, and takes an unsavable wound on a 6. Additionally, if the attacker’s charge fails, the Salamanders unit gains Fearless instead, and does not roll to damage itself at the end of the turn.

Raven Guard- The XIXth Legion has “Shadow and Fury,” a special rule that classifies specific units as Talons, Falcons, or Hawks. Each of which grant that unit a specific special rule, such as the Talons getting to reroll to wound rolls in a turn in which they charge. “Fade to Black” is the Raven’s advanced reaction, which allows a Raven Guard unit being targeted by a shooting attack to make an initiative move away from the shooter, and grants them Shrouded +4. If they move out of range, the shooting unit can’t target anything else this turn.

Each Legion also has access to special wargear, warlord traits, special units, named characters, and army compositions called “Rites of War,” each of which gives all 18 playable legions their own unique styles and feel.

[giphit]

Review of Spider-Man 2 (PS2/GCN/Xbox)

A few months ago, I decided to play Spider-Man 2 on my VERY REAL Nintendo GameCube (Dolphin edition). Overall, I had a very fun time. Obviously the swinging is phenomenal, though it is not as approachable as the PS4 game. The combat is clunky but works most of the time. The world itself is honestly kind of barren and carried by the fact that swinging is fun. And the story is a mixed bag.

Long in-depth thoughts:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Story

There's not much but the story in this game is very weird. As you'd expect, it covers the main narrative beats of the Raimi Spider-Man 2 movie but it adds its own stuff. And, opposite of what I expected, the movie stuff is the weakest part. As an actual adaptation, it's like we're just given an abridged version of that movie. These parts of the game feel kind of lackluster compared to the other parts of the story.

An example of this is with Doc Ock. In the movie we spend a good amount of time developing his relationship with Peter and establishing him as a mentor figure, meanwhile in the game, he's given a couple cutscenes before his accident and most of his time with Peter is cut off before a fade-to-black, back to the city as Spider-Man. Spidey will then say something along the lines of "Wow dinner with Doc was great, he's so smart, love that guy" and that's it. Maybe they expected you to have seen the movie so you'd know what these gaps were supposed to be.

A retelling of the movie isn't all this game is though, and the original content it gives you alongside the movie is super fun and interesting. My personal highlight is the Mysterio story line- everyone's seen the funny health bar clip. He's introduced as Quentin Beck, who dislikes Spider-Man and challenges him publicly only to lose. Post-humiliation, he puts a fish bowl on his head and uses his mystical power of "too much money and spare time" to pretend to be an alien staging an invasion of earth. This was just a fully enjoyable and funny quest line that doesn't just pad out the game but adds to it.

There's also the entirely new character arc that Peter goes on due to his interactions with Black Cat which actually introduce added depth to the internal "Spider-Man vs Peter Parker" thing he has going on. These two and other minor game-specific beats make it feel kind of "held-back" by having to tell the movie's story. You'll have a sequence of some really fun original quests followed by a watered down version of a moment from Spider-Man 2 (the movie).

I wouldn't say this even really takes away from the fun of the game, it is just a weird discrepancy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Swinging

It is nothing short of spectacular that this game, made in 2004, manages to have such enticing, deep and FUN traversal throughout the streets of New York. Jamie Fistrom is a genius, this idea of his was what paved the way for the evolution of Spider-Man games. But it's not perfect.

At the time, it probably was as perfect as could be but now going back to play it, there are some grievances. Mostly the problems are in the fine controls, a lot of games from this era have this "problem" of actually being TOO tight and responsive. Smash Melee is the best example (I love Melee), where it's near unapproachable for newer players due to a lack of buffer and requirement of clean execution on complicated tech.

Spider-Man 2 is not as hard to get into as Super Smash Bros. Melee but it definitely has a learning curve to it. Or I just suck. I was swinging into buildings non stop at the beginning of the game but over time you get better at it and more proficient at keeping your pace up.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Combat

The combat in this game is very similar to the Arkham games, which is funny because those games came out 9 years after this. It's fair to say the combat is unrefined but it does get the job done and the combos are fun to pull off. Where the combat fall apart for me is in boss fights.

Despite liking the vibes and progression of the Mysterio parts of this game, I did not like the Mysterio "fight" (if you can call it that) at the statue of liberty. Getting to the orbs was annoying thanks to a lack of cooperation from Spider-Man's webs paired with me probably being a little bad at the game.

Then there's the Doctor Octopus fights which were just annoying. These fights feel really inconsistent and at some point I was just spamming buttons and hoping, which worked because this game was meant for children, but it was not satisfying to bang a head against a wall for a while. I'm sure there is a way to beat him consistently but the game did not convey it very well.

The shocker fights and Rhino were much more manageable but quite simple. Overall the combat is fine but there are points where it feels like a chore.

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Gameplay

Gameplay loop is very important in video games, and in this game, it ranges from fun to "oh this again, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay". The things to do in the city are: race, pizza, random crime and that fucking balloon.

Racing is a mixed bag. The races that are just swinging are fun because the swinging is fun. The races that ask you to wall run are annoying because the wall running in this game is not fun. Should be noted that I barely did any races during my playthrough and it's been months so maybe not the most accurate perspective coming from me here.

Pizza is fun, mostly because of the song, it is basically just another form of race but with more fun music and less stipulations. You just have to get from point A to points B through Z within an allotted time and make it back to point A. Don't do tricks or you'll ruin the pizza. Overall just fun.

Random crimes are incredibly annoying- after a while at least. When I started in the game, I was enjoying being Spider-Man, helping people out on a whim but as the game progressed, I realised that there are about 15 whole crimes/events to experience here. A couple are added to the RNG pool during the main story like Mysterio's robots and some walking tanks but that's it. Since you are forced to get hero points in every chapter, you have to keep doing these and by the end they are just monotonous tasks. It sucks that this is really all the city has to offer.

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Rating and Conclusion

Very fun game to play, technical achievement for its time and surprisingly well-aged. Combat is average, traversal is phenomenal, gameplay loop is pretty monotonous and the story is enjoyable in some parts and boring in others.

7/10

[conjoinedpubes]

Adventures of Solis - Chapter 1: The Art of Sword Conjuring

Adventures of Solis

Chapter Index

Next | Previous | Beginning

Yup, its another one of these. Trying to keep it concise this round; more build discussion and less minor details. Once again, the rules are - 1. themed character, 2. natural playthrough compatible 3. playable in PvE and PvP

Solis, Sword Conjurer

The starting concept was 'Conjured Sidearm' - using Glintblade Sorceries like a magical off-hand. Not the most original idea, but wanted to give it my own spin. I also wanted to do an Intelligence Hybrid.

In short; a mage-fighter hybrid using a mainhand weapon + magical tools in the off-hand, and not a Carian Slicer spam build.

Which then begs the question - Do we limit to Glintblade Spells only? or how many non-school spells to allow? Theres also the question of swap speed/sanity - the magic sidearm has to be drawn fast/convenient. Too large a spell arsenal limits this.

1.1 Arcane Arsenal

Since magic = off-hand weapon, the spells should roughly equate to a weapon type. The playstyle is melee-focus, so spell choice is affected by that.

Main Carian Slicer - Dagger equivalent, can be drawn fast with absurd damage. Carian Piercer - Lance equivalent, reach and stopping power when charged. Also a good tool in PvP for sudden lunges. Gavel of Haima - Great Hammer equivalent. One of few spells with hyper armour during cast, also a source of AOE damage. Ranged: Magic Glintblade or Swift Glintstone Shard Having easy ranged attacks is the main reason to be a caster. Felt these were the most on theme, as once you start adding things like Comet - it pretty much plays like any other 'normal wizard'. Glintblade gives the option to prepare a big opening move, while Shard is more a 'quickshot' - small damage with near instant poke. Other Adula's Moonblade - Not in the Glintblade School, despite conjuring a sword. Source of Cold Status and more AOE. As this is a late-game spell - its more of a 'I'll try it when I get there' than a commited inclusion. Zamor Ice Storm - Another Cold + AOE spell. This is a personal bias, I love it for its own sake. Given that the playstyle already up close - why not? Gravity Well - We are melee, therefore why not use the spell that pulls things to you? also another ranged consideration.

Theres too many spells here to reasonably carry at all times, and so I opted for 3-4 at any time, swapping situationally. 2 slots for common use and 1-2 for situational use.

In short, spells alots are... 1. 'Dagger' aka. Carian Slicer 2. 'Ranged' - Swift Glintstone/Magic Glintblade 3. 'Heavy Weapon' - Piercer/Gavel 4. Off-School/Utility

Staff - Carian Glintblade

On theme, and the best staff (the +15% to Glintblade School beats more magic scaling in most cases). At low-level, DHQ (Demi-Human Queen) is *technically* better; but CG can be found relatively early - (ie. losing a little damage early vs. never having to replace your staff)

1.2 Main Hand Weapon

The ideal weapon was something with the following.

Ability to stagger human-type enemies - did not want to rely on specific spells in order stop an aggresive enemy. This is true in both PvE and PvP.

Generalist moveset and speed - as we are a martial build in neutral. Casting takes time, thus something that doesnt' compete with spells for 'openings' in combat.

No overlap with spells - Since our spell choice coverd reach, fast close up slashes and the occasional AOE, the choice mainhand weapon should not be specialist in any of these.

Thus, Greatswords were the choice.

Here there are 3 options Claymore/Flamberge for regular infusables - Claymore if we end up Int+Str, Flamberge for Int+Dex. Helphen's Steeple - Unique Str/Int weapon with a frostbite buff. Given that Helphen's is late-game and Flamberge needs a signficant run, Claymore was the early-game weapon.

note: excluded Death's Poker and Moonlight GS as they are more 'magic wands', built around a ranged skill - rather than a weapon for swinging.

1.3 Equipment

Here we wanted a proper battlemage - able to fight up close. A metallic/crystalline fashion with good protection - no robes.

Prisoner Helm + Scaled Set was the 'ideal fashion'. Until then, the Chainmail set from Kale will do. Swapping in more pieces of the Scaled Set as endurance allows.

Since elemental damage weapons are very strong early on - we aim for 1H Claymore and throw an elemental infusion on.

Being able to 1-Hand a weapon is important. Stopping to cast, then swap back to 2H grip just to swing is very slow and makes combat less smooth.

The specific elemental infusion really does not matter, as scaling early is non-existent. Opted for Sacred Blade for the free weapon buff, then replaced it with any of the Rogier weapon arts ASAP.

Stats and Levelling

We need for (Int, Mind) for magic, (Str, Dex) for weapons and (Vig,End) for defense - so the stat spread is going to be really rough.

To get the most basic setup going we need...

min stats to use 1H Claymore (16 str, 14 dex)

min end for equipment weight; Prisoner Head + Chainmail set + Claymore + Staff (14 end)

min int for spells

note: Radagon Soreseal covers all Str + End requirements

Starting Class - Prisoner

The int+dex class

wastes no points on faith; a stat we are definitely not using.

Starter spell; Magic Glintblade - is of the blade school.

14 dex at base covers Claymore requirements

14 int at base covers all relevant spells until Liurnia

As with everything, Vagabond is always good in the long run - but I wanted to cast from start and not have to unlock magic.

Levelling Priority

14 end min

min str/dex/int for weapon/spell options

The rest is Vigor and Mind to taste

Closing Thoughts

As of writing, character is RL60 +12/5. Will followup on what aspect of the setup worked + new discoveries.

Adventures of Solis

Chapter Index

Next | Previous | Beginning

[theskylarkin]

KH OC Week Day 4 - Coliseum

(I'm swapping around the prompts for Day 4-6 for, um, Reasons. Mostly, it's just to have both of my "infodump" entries in a row. Disclaimer: I've never actually played a pen and paper RPG so these would probably be terrible character builds to actually play as.)

Information on fighting styles below:

Ferrum - The Blade is Me

At first glance, Ferrum has a fighting style that shares a lot of similarities with Terra’s. Both have high Strength stats plus a focus on guarding and then countering with powerful attacks using their heavy keyblades, but that’s where the similarities end.

Ferrum is quicker but less tanky than his fellow apprentice, so his moveset relies on a lot more footwork and swordplay in comparison to Terra’s raw power. The timing of Ferrum’s guarding and counterattacks is much more precise, and he favors attacks that stun and/or disorientate his opponents so they have less opportunity to retaliate such as Collision Magnet and Magnet Spiral. His preferred method of immobilizing enemies is to launch them into the air and then hit them with a barrage of combos so they never get the chance to recover their footing. (Obviously, this doesn’t work on opponents capable of flight or teleportation.) Master Hermod wasn’t impressed by this “juggling” strategy until Ferrum could prove its effectiveness in battle.

Defense-wise, Ferrum is quick enough to pull off the Reversal maneuver and dodge behind an enemy to attack. He can also do a similar “backward flash step into a reprisal” move for larger opponents but that’s all he’s got in terms of evasion. He prefers the guard/counter strategy more, especially when on a mission with the other apprentices where he’ll usually have to block attacks directed at them (Brandr and Sophia are still getting the hang of using Barrier, and Virdandi is still insisting that the best defense is just to not get hit).

Over the years, Ferrum’s master has come to appreciate the need for good defensive maneuvers (especially when it comes to protecting one’s friends). However, Master Hermod still favors a highly offense-based style of combat, which makes Ferrum an excellent match for him as an apprentice because Magic is his worst stat. The only two spells he’s capable of casting are Magnet (perfect for getting enemies into melee range) and Spark (light magic is just easier for him to learn as opposed to another elemental spell, which is another way that he and Terra differ.)

Virdandi - Speed Demon

Virdandi’s fighting style focuses on the use of time magic, quick attacks that give her time to cartwheel away and evade any reprisals, and general “hit and run” tactics. Speed is her best stat and defense is her worst, making her the most fragile of glass cannons. Spells that slow down enemy reaction time and increase her own speed fit her strategy but Virdandi specifically likes casting Slow on her enemies so she can watch her target make amusing faces as they recoil from her flurry of strikes (as she casts Haste on herself) and take damage in slow motion. Virdandi tends to wait until she’s low on health to cast Stop because she hates the delay between attacking and the enemy actually taking damage.

At first, these time spells were the only non-melee technique in Virdandi’s moveset. Her reasoning behind this was that if she could defeat her opponent before they had a chance to land a hit then she wouldn’t need to bother learning any defensive moves or healing spells, right? Master Vidar was not impressed but he figured that Virdandi would realize the flaws in her strategy on her own as she kept training.

Post-Timeskip

It may have taken a little longer for her to gain this insight than he’d have liked, as Virdandi can be an incredibly stubborn contrarian. Eventually, she came to accept that her strategy was ill-suited for encounters with multiple targets or enemies immune to time magic, and began to adjust her tactics accordingly. By the time of BBS, she’s learned moves like Drain that give her some HP back and some that have a chance to instant-kill like Zantetsuken (although this isn’t nearly as effective as Terra’s due to her lower strength stat). With Sophia's help, she’s also added Doom to her arsenal of time magic.

To her master’s relief, Virdandi has even learned to cast a few defensive spells like Protect and Shell (if only because they were easier in comparison to learning how to properly counter attacks). Vidar’s efforts to teach her any light magic, however, have not panned out as of yet. (Ventus being a natural at light magic may have some bearing on her disinterest to learn.)

Sophia - Jack of All Trades, Master of None

At the beginning of her apprenticeship, Sophia decided that she wanted to develop a fighting style that had the perfect balance of offense, defense, speed, and magic. Since her interest was always more focused on the academic opportunities that owning a keyblade presented and had exactly zero prior combat experience, Sophia thought a generalist focus would have the most versatility and therefore the most effectiveness.

Master Vor, on the other hand, doubted that specializing in refusing to specialize would work out for Sophia in the long run. However, she held her tongue so as not to discourage her curious apprentice, at first anyway. (Vor figured that Sophia learning a little bit of everything would help her become more self-reliant. And if Sophia just so happened to learn more spells than keyblade techniques because she was assigned several heavy grimoires to read? Complete coincidence, of course.)

Post-Timeskip

Since then, Sophia has learned that studying techniques and planning things out in her head is nothing compared to actual experience on the battlefield. By the time of BBS, she has developed a varied moveset with no glaring weaknesses but no real strengths either. If the obstacle in her path is sentient, her first instinct is always to try and talk things out. When a battle ensues, Sophia is still more likely to use magic than swing her keyblade if only because Strength is her weakest stat. (This tendency made her initial refusal to focus on magic all the more confusing to Vor.)

At the start of a fight, Sophia strategically hangs back and carefully observes her enemy to determine its weaknesses before she takes action to exploit them accordingly. To accomplish this more effectively, she learned Barrier like Aqua and Brandr in order to block attacks without compromising her line of sight. Unlike them, she’s learned how to combine it with a second Reflect spell to create a shield that can take multiple hits due to her high Defense stat and lasts longer at the cost of more MP. Even with this strengthened Barrier, her fighting style is much more effective when she has others with her, a weakness that Master Vor hopes to overcome by pushing Sophia to get stronger and has led to some contention between master and apprentice.

After five years of training, Sophia has become more accustomed to wielding a keyblade. In addition to Barrier, she’s also accurate enough at teleporting behind an enemy when they’re about to strike to use the ability as her only form of dodging attacks. She also knows the base version of every spell (even the most obscure ones that Aqua hasn’t learned yet such as Demi, Frog, Regen, and Warp). The only higher-level spells she can cast are Curaga (necessary as Brandr and Virdandi have little to no healing spells), Graviga, Zero Graviga, and Meteor as well as Doom and Mega Flare after helping Virdandi and Brandr learn them.

Vor’s appeal to Sophia’s insatiable curiosity is not without consequence, however, as her pursuit of the magical arts has led to her learning a few dark spells. She tells herself that it’s purely for academic purposes only; she’d never use those spells on anyone but they should be studied and understood just like any other branch of magic. Yet she would never tell Master Vor or any other keyblade wielder because she knows they wouldn’t understand…

Brandr - I See Fire

Brandr has a surprisingly high Magic stat—higher than Sophia’s and almost on par with Aqua’s—for someone who can barely cast any spells. Perhaps he might have developed a knack for spellcasting if he’d been taught at an earlier age, but no one in Scala ad Caelum would’ve been willing to do so due to his strange condition until Master Urd helped him learn to somewhat manage his power. So far, the only spell Brandr can cast reliably is Barrier (which, to his credit, only two other apprentices can also cast by the time of BBS).

To keep him from growing frustrated with trying to learn too much at once, Master Urd thought it would be best to teach her apprentice how to channel his magic potential in a more indirect manner. Brandr has learned how to imbue his attacks with Fire magic for extra damage but it’s the only element he’s been able to master (ironic since Urd was known for her preference toward Ice magic when she was an apprentice). For enemies immune to fire damage, he’s also learning keyblade techniques that draw their power from magical strength rather than physical (attacks like Explosion, Magic Flash, Last Charge, and Ripple Drive) as Strength is his second-worst stat.

Brandr’s actual worst stat is Speed. As he prefers to keep his enemies at a distance, his slow reaction times don’t affect his combat style much as long as he can keep up a barrage of ranged attacks (moves like Strike Raid and shotlocks) and his opponent can’t move quickly enough to close the gap.  However, it makes his unpredictable visions all the more dangerous because he can’t quickly get to safety until they end while he’s in the midst of a battle. This was the main reason that Master Urd pushed Brandr to learn Barrier but until he learns some offensive magic he’s not allowed to fight on his own yet.

Post-Timeskip

By the time of BBS, Brandr has successfully learned some spells! And not all of them are Fire-based! For starters, he’s mastered all the variants of Barrier (minus Sophia’s reinforced version) plus a fire version. The Mine spells, Blackout, and Stopra (which Virdandi taught him) give him the crowd control options that his moveset was sorely lacking. He can also cast all four tiers of Fire spells (although the cufflink in his coat might be aiding him in casting Firaza), Crawling Fire, Ignite, and (with Sophia’s help) Mega Flare.

The biggest change in Brandr’s combat style is his use of the Sight to predict enemy movements and evade future attacks (although it’s not one hundred percent reliable). Now that he has a better grip on his powers, he feels much more confident moving around the battlefield and relies less on ranged attacks. Despite his success with this technique, Master Urd is still concerned with him relying too much on the Sight as overuse causes awful headaches, and focusing on events outside the current fight if his attention wanders leaves him wide open to attacks while he’s distracted.

Nemus - Light is Not Good

Before he got a keyblade, Nemus found that avoiding/running from his problems was usually a more effective tactic for him than fighting. It’s no wonder that his best stat is Speed (he’s even faster than Virdandi when he’s really trying) and his worst is Strength (but he’s at least a little physically stronger than Sophia due to the circumstances of his childhood). Even after gaining a keyblade, Nemus still tries to avoid fighting as much as possible. This isn’t out of avoidance of conflict like Sophia, however, as Nemus thrives on animosity and competition. It’s just that he prefers verbal sparring to physical as it’s less likely to get his clothes dirty.

When he is forced into combat, Nemus prefers long-range combat and magic over melee attacks. In particular, he’s learned Strike Raid and some of its variants (Circle Raid and Treasure Raid) in order to hit enemies with his keyblade without moving from where he stands. However, he does know Limit Storm and Salvation just in case someone does get in his bubble. Some call his preference of hanging back while in battle to be cowardice or laziness, but he calls it conserving energy.

Master Hoder’s specialty is Light Magic and consequentially all of Nemus’ offense-based spells are of that element: the Spark series of spells and Faith/Holy. However, he’s got his own tricks up his sleeve as he’s also learned Confuse and Vanish to cause chaos on the battlefield. Nemus knows the Cure spells and Esuna but he’s no White Mage-he reserves all of his healing spells for himself. And if those run out, he’s learned Energy Magnet (and Money Magnet, but for different reasons).

Despite his elemental and moral affinity, Nemus is always prepared to fight dirty. After a lifetime of being kicked around by those stronger than him, the idea of honor in battle is a joke to Nemus.

Pre-Timeskip Relative Stats Breakdown (with the Wayfinder Trio for comparison's sake):

Strength

Sophia < Ventus < Brandr < Aqua < Virdandi < Ferrum < Terra

Defense

Virdandi < Aqua < Ferrum < Ventus < Brandr < Terra < Sophia

Speed

Terra < Brandr < Sophia < Ferrum < Aqua < Virdandi < Ventus

Magic

Ferrum < Virdandi < Terra < Ventus < Sophia < Brandr < Aqua

Post-Timeskip Relative Stats Breakdown:

Strength

Sophia < Ventus < Nemus < Brandr < Aqua < Virdandi < Terra

Defense

Virdandi < Aqua < Nemus < Ventus < Brandr < Terra < Sophia

Speed

Terra < Brandr < Sophia < Aqua < Virdandi < Ventus < Nemus

Magic

Virdandi < Terra < Ventus < Nemus < Sophia < Brandr < Aqua

@khoc-week