Leaderboard

Not to a spelling bee. But far...

^ When I was a younger man and still had hair on my head, I used to try to make the strongest character I could, then I had an epiphany; I came to the realization that many of my most enjoyable RPG experiences (pnp and vidya game) came from flawed and/or unusual characters. Since then I've almost always favored sticking to a concept over trying to get the biggest and best numbers. I create a backstory and concept in my head and then pick stats, skills, perks, etc that fit with the concept, regardless of how useful or efficient the build is. After many long hours, I have cleared a Split sector of Xenon invaders in X4. In total, I destroyed 4 Xenon stations and 1 that was just starting to get built (nip that bud right then and there), 4 destroyers, 8 or 9 frigates, a dozen or so fighters and scouts, and countless defense drones. The only real threat to me were the destroyers. Xenon K Destroyers have massive firepower, more than my Odysseus Destroyer. However, they are slow and have really poor maneuverability, even for a capital ship. Plus, my destroyer's main guns have superior range to any of the K's weapons. So it was all about being patient and smart, outmaneuvering the K and shooting it from a safe distance while is sloooooooowly turned to face me. I made a ****ton of money and rep for my heroic deeds (no brave NPCs ran interference for me this time, it was all me). I even sniped a few passing Xenon fighters on my way to the Zyarth Patriarchy shipyard after it was done. I swapped out all the turrets on the destroyer for split models. Same type of weapon, same damage, but Split turrets, while less armored, have significantly faster turn speed, which helps them track fighters better. While there I contemplated buying a Split Rattlesnake Destroyer, I had just enough to afford one with minimal equip. Ultimately, I resisted temptation and invested in some station module blueprints and decided to expand my HQ, investing for future profitssss. My HQ previously had a solar power plant (this should be your first production module on any station, energy cells are used in almost everything) and a Teladianium (Teladi alloy) foundry which used ore (collected by a mining ship I bought from the conveniently placed asteroid field near my HQ) and energy cells. I'm currently adding a silicon refinery (I'll add a second miner if the one I already have can't keep up on mining both silicon and ore), a refined metals forge (non-Teladi specific alloys), a smart chip factory (uses silicon wafers and energy cells), and a scanning arrays factory (silicon wafers, refined metals, energy cells). That will give me a self-sufficient production facility that produces 2 intermediate wares to sell (Teladianium and Smart Chips) and one high-tech ware to sell (Scanning Arrays). It will take a while to recoup the investment, but it will be worth it in the long run.

That kid will go far!

Orcs automatically get max charisma 'cause they're orcs. Anyone who says otherwise is a dirty elf.

Stray cats show example how to keep social distance

Seems here too that the only overall group that dislikes work from home is the most essential one- middle managers, of course. They also seem to be the ones obsessed with having long and pointless Zoom meetings instead of long and pointless face to face meetings.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-05-13-the-mafia-series-is-getting-a-trilogy-re-release Mafia remakes on the way, I don't know if I'm looking forward to or dreading their arrival, I expect them to ruin the driving experience of the first game, and they probably won't include wheel support.

I'll wait until they release some evidence that the woman was not a nice person, ergo her getting shot was no big deal.

The Bleach Boys

Also: Food Fighters

Hi everyone, I have just finishined the first complete version (1.0) of my own mod which will aim at making the game more balanced. My main objectives are the following : - Make all abilities/subclasses worth including in a build, - Ensure that Tier VIII and Tier IX are interesting enough to go Single Class, - Correct a couple of weird mechanics to make them more consistent with generic rules. I plan to deliver it on Nexus Mod a bit later probably within a couple of weeks. Important notes ; - This mod is designed for RtwP. I "think" most of its content should work for TB, but I haven't tested it, - This mod is in English only. It will work with any language setup though, but modified texts will appear in English, - This mod has been designed and tested with the content of PoE2 Community Patch (I own no rights on CP, but I wanted to promote it). - This mod will apply to any newly created character. For existing ones : The files, version 1.0 : The ones with most of the changes, mostly buffs or minor corrections : BalancePolishingModBuffs 1.0.zip The ones with nerfs for a couple of broken features (such as preventing Salvation of Time abuse, or Troubadour nerf). They will be described in red in the notes below. You may not want to use this package. BalancePolishingModNerfs 1.0.zip The one with Summon Rebalance, with a lot of tweaks (buffs and nerfs) delivered as a stand-alone package : BalancePolishingSummonRebalance 1.0.zip Installation instructions, In order to get the intended experience : Detailed list of changes : I didn't include the full explainations in this thread, but feel free to read them in the "Project for a Balance Mod" thread. Most of the descriptions should be up-to-date, but there might have been a couple of changes. Therefore, the release thread should be considered as the reference. Discussion References per topic : 1) Class changes : A) Fighter Inspired Discipline : 3 Discipline -> 2 Discipline Power Strike & Inspired Strike : 4 Discipline -> 3 Discipline 6s Stun -> 10s Stun 6s Staggered -> 10s Staggered Inspired Discipline only : +200% damages -> +300% Take the Hit : 4s Recovery -> 0s Recovery Into the Fray & Upgrades : 2 Discipline -> 1 Discipline 10 – 14 damages -> 5 – 10 damages Mule Kick : Most upgrades use the PL of the original ability. A PL 3 upgrade of a PL 1 ability used by a PL5 character will for example get a scaling of +4. There was a glitch that counted Mule Kick as PL3 instead of PL1, so I corrected it for ruleset consistency. This basically gives Mule Kick +2 PL. Toughened Fury :25% proc chance, as announced by CP (CP implemented only 20%) B) Paladin Light of Pure Zeal : 5 Zeal -> 4 Zeal Exorcism : 4 Zeal -> 3 Zeal Healing Chain (complete rework) : 2 Zeal Range 5m + 4m Jump Friendly Target + 50 Bounce (yes, 50) Heal 10 health per bounce (no reduction per bounce) Can bounce several time on the same target (0,3s delay) Hastening Exhortation & Upgrades : 2 Zeal -> 1 Zeal - Hastening Exhortation : Nimble for 15s- Zealous Exhortation : Swift for 15s- Hastening Command: Nimble and Strong for 15s Liberating Exhortation & Upgrades : 2 Zeal -> 1 Zeal 20s Duration -> 15s Reinforcing Exhortation & Upgrades : 2 Zeal -> 1 Zeal 12s Duration -> 10s Glorious beacon & Upgrades : 3s/4s Cast -> 0,5s/4,5s Cast 1,5m AoE -> 2,5m AoE 8s Duration -> 12s Duration (for all effects, including upgrades) Sacred immolation & Upgrades : 4 Zeal -> 3 Zeal 32 raw damages per tick -> 20 damages (I overrode the 3,5m radius from Community Patch) Wrath of the Fives Suns (Pallegina special ability) : Penetration : 7->12 Penetration properly scale with PL (currently it does not) Damages : 5-7 -> 5->15 (x5 Projectiles) EDIT : 2 Zeal -> 1 Zeal Greater Lay on Hands : 8s Duration -> 10s Duration Hands of Light : 8s Duration -> 15s Duration C) Chanter Also refer to Summon Rebalance for changes specifically about summons. Troubadour : Brisk Recitation phrase take 4s instead of 3s. Set to Their Purpose, They All Knew Their Part : 6 Phrases -> 5 Phrases (as unupgraded version) (this was justified when it provided Brillant...) Far from Defeated, His Heart Filled with Joy : 6 Phrases -> 5 Phrases (as unupgraded version) +3 Phrases -> +2 Phrases Far from Defeated, His Heart Filled with Joy and Their Companion Braved the Horde Alone are now considered Offensive instead of Non-Offensive (important for Skald) ...Each Kill Fed His Fury : Contrary to the ability it is upgraded from, this ability provides mere +5 stats boost instead of inspirations. As it seemed really random, I replaced the stat boost by actual Strong, Fit and Steadfast Inspirations. Boil Their Flesh From Skin to Bone & Upgrade : Secondary Cones replaced by simple 2,5m radius AoE. This enables the Acid Explosion to be properly centered on the victim. ( I learned that the secondary Cones originated from the caster instead of from the actual victim. This changes also correct this glitch) His Laughter Rang Through the Halls : 8s Daze -> 30s Interrupt on Hit -> Interrupt on Graze His Heart Did Fill With the Light of the Dawn : +1 Ressource -> +2 Ressources Does not affect the caster anymore. D) Rangers Sharpshooter : +20% Range with all ranged weapons Hobbling Shot : Hobbled for 10s->15s Heal Companion & Upgrade : 2 Bonds -> 1 Bond Cast time : 3s/4s -> 0,5s/4,5s Range 4m -> 10m Note : I didn't follow Community Patch change for this one. Revive Companion & Upgrade : Revive with 50 health -> 100 health Vengeful Revival : +20% damage -> +30% Deadly Surprise : +100% damage -> +300% Bonded Fury : 3 Bonds -> 2 Bonds Cast time : 0,5s/4s -> 0,5s/0s Range : 6m -> 10m Twinned Shot : 2 Bonds -> 1 Bond Vengeful Grief : Duration 15s -> Infinite (note that DEX and MIG affliction still dispell the Inspirations you get) Heart Seeker : 4 Bonds -> 3 Bonds Shadowed Hunters : Pet's first bite after using the ability apply a 30s DoT effect (20 raw damages per 3s tick). Note that first pet attack doesn't break invisibility (this is true in the base game). Distracting Training : 6s -> 15s (not that this is the base duration. It will be lower in general because the ability use pet's Intellect) Pet Abilities Keyword :Added Beast Keyword to all pet abilities cast by the Ranger so they benefit from equipment with bonus to Beast abilities.Applied to Heal Companion, Revive Companion, Bonded Fury, Master's Call, Shadowed Hunters & their upgrades.Not applied to Takedown and Play Dead cause they are cast by pet themselves (and PL can be detrimental to Play Dead cause it rise its duration) E) Barbarian Mage Slayer : Removed the Spell Resistance entirely. Added -25% Hostile and Beneficial effect duration. Corpse Eater : Greatly buffed special food (and also replaced bonus MIG and malus INT by more varied effects) : - Kith Meat : -5 Diplomacy, -15% Damages received, +3 Corpse Eater PL - Corpse Loaf : -3 Diplomacy, +3 Health per 6s, +10 Fortitude, +4 Corpse Eater PL - Forbidden Pie : -3 Diplomacy, +4 Resolve, Mind Affliction Resistance, +5 Corpse Eater PL In addition, Kith Meat and Vessel Flesh can be bought from Vithrack and Imp vendors (Kith Meat price set to 100 gold) Instruments of Boundless Rage : 3 Rage -> 2 Rage Added Fire Keyword Heart of Fury : 4 Rage -> 3 Rage Savage Defiance & Upgrades : 15s -> 25s Stalwart Defiance : changed to Gain Concentration every 6s Leap & Panther's Leap : 6s Dazed -> 4s Stun Dragon Leap : 6s Dazed -> 6s Stun Panther's and Dragon Leap are now correctly tagged as Leap upgrades (which basically makes them scale as PL5 abilities -> effective +3PL) Carnage : Can now Crit (so can apply Blood Frenzy ) Accurate Carnage : +5 Accuracy -> +10 Accuracy Blood Surge : 25% Chance -> 50% Chance, but only apply to Hostile Targets (same change as Community Patch did for its Paladin equivalent) Blood Thirst : Cleaned the mess that causes it to proc twice on the same target and prevented it from being stackable with Crushing Blow. Now proc only once except sometimes when 2 targets are killed in a row (it applies twice then, cause Recovery is cleared before second target is killed, so you keep one charge) Barbaric Blow & upgrades : Removed the PR and Damages bonus to make the ability more focused. Now Barbaric Blow & Upgrades do : - 75% Hit to Crit chances - +75% Crit damages bonus (note : Crushing Blow do get this bonus, even if it does not get Crit Damages Bonus in the base game due to a bug) - +200% Carnage AoE (so roughly 2.5m radius instead of 1.5m) - Barbaric Smash : no refund, but cost reduced to 1 Rage - Crushing Blow : no recovery (not conditional anymore) Spirit Tornado : Spirit Tornado applies Stagger on any hit, not only Weapon Hits (as the unupgraded version) F) Wizard Conjurer : Summon Familiar cast time : 3s/4s -> 0.5s/0s (It's not very well known, but Familiars provide a +1 stacking and generic PL Bonus, as well as random +3 to one stat and a minor bonus.) Transmuter : Form of the Fearsome Brute changes : - Form of the Fearsome Brute Armor : +100% Recovery -> +20% Recovery - Form of the Fearsome Brute Fist : 13-25 damages, 6PR -> 18-24 damages, 7PR - Form of the Fearsome Brute duration : 30s -> 20s - Form of the Fearsome Brute duration : +1 Engagement -> +3 Note : these changes also apply to Form of the Fearsome Brute Potions Bewildering Spectacle : Cast time : 3s/4s -> 0.5s/3s Confusion : Added Interrupt on Hit AoE : 2.5m -> 5m Note : these changes also apply to Confusion Scrolls, Wael's priest and Trickster's versions. G) Cipher Wild Mind : Miscast : set to foe only, but damages lowered to 0.5 x Focus. Tenuous grasp : 0.5s/4s cast time -> 0.5s/2s Fractured Volition : Change Weakened for Enfeebled. Haunting Chain : Duration 20s -> 40s. Soul Ignition : Target Fortitude -> Target Will (due to Cipher's passive, this is a buff) 16 damages per tick -> 20 damages Duration : 15s -> 18s Mindweb : Now break after being damages 3 times. Note that this erases the changes from CP that were supposed to make Mindweb break after a Hit (but didn't work) H) Rogue Trickster : Sneak Attack 20% + 5%/PL -> 10% + 5%/PL Streefighter : Indirect nerf : Blunderbuss Modal : Distracted for 10s -> -10 Accuracy for 10s Smoke Veil : 2 Guile -> 1 Guile Shadow Step & Upgrade : 3 Guile -> 2 Guile Paralysis 6s -> 8s Shadowing Beyond & Upgrade : 3 Guile -> 2 Guile +50 Deflection that was weirdly cancelled on 1st or 2nd attack (without any explaination) -> +25 Deflection for whole duration Smoke Cloud & Upgrades : Interrupt on Hit -> Interrupt on Graze Finishing Blow & Eleminating Blow : +3% damages per % health lost from 50% -> +1.5% damages per % health lost from 100% Devastating Blow : +6% damages per % health lost from 50% -> +3% damages per % health lost from 100% I did not change the max value, but I made these abilities count from 100%. Sap : Hobbled for 30s -> Shaken for 30s Added impossibility to receive Concentration debuff on target for 30s. Perplexing Sap : Removed the weird Confusion on target's attack effect. Upgrade Skaken from changed Sap to Fighten. This version of Perplexing Sap is basically a Silencing attack, or a cheap source of Tier 2 Affliction for Resistant foe. Strike the Bell & Upgrades (complete rework) : - Still Full Attack that Interrupts on Graze, with +25% damages and +2 PR. - Now all versions adds a 15s Dazed effect - Melee 1 Hander adds a -25 Will debuff for 15s - Melee 2 Hander adds a -25 Fortitude debuff for 15s - Ranged Weapon adds a -25 Reflex debuff for 15s - All other effects removed. - The upgrades now allow their respective -25 defense debuff to last for the whole Combat (in a similar fashion as Gouging Strike) Confounding Strike : Start at -10 deflection malus, -2 per hit up to a total of -34 (doesn't stack with flanked) Fix the stacking not working from CP. Thanks @Frykas for pointing it. Persistent Distraction : - Deflection and AR malus doesn't stack with similar effect anymore, as for all others Distracted Afflictions. Thanks @Frykas for pointing it. Deep Wounds :Now applies 20% fixed amount of weapon damages in 4 ticks (2s ticks) as announced by CP. CP implemented 3 ticks (3s ticks) for a total of 15%. I) Druid Also refer to Summon Rebalance for changes specifically about summons. Wall of Thorns : No actual changes, but this ability displayed a base PEN of 7 which was wrong : it is actually base PEN 9, so I corrected the display Nature's Terror : - Casting time changed from 4,5s/3s to 3s/3s. Sunlance : - Casting time changed from 4,5s/3s to 0,5s/4,5s. - Added Interrupt on Hit. Nature's Bounty : - Now its effects (20 health restored, +2 PER and MIG, +20% Action Speed for 30s) will apply directly instead of summoning potion. - AoE reduced 5m -> 2,5m to compensate that it now affects summons and everything. Entropy : - Added 3 Base Bounce (Base 4 Targets) - Number of procs raised from 3 to 5. - Charges are not consumed by Graze and Crit anymore - Removed Interrupt part Tornado : - AoE set to 10m radius. - Range set to 20m - Added a true "Interrupt on Graze" effect, which is consistent with the Vertical Launch part. - Casting Time tuned from 6s/2s to 4.5s/3s Touch of Death : - Set casting time to 0,5s/3s instead of 3s/3s. - Add a +25 Acc modifier for this spell. So if your accuracy is equal or greater than foe's Will, the kill is guaranteed. Wildstrike Frenzy : - Changed from Procs on Kills to Proc on Kills Fury Strom Blight Weapons : - Now properly count as weapons (generate focus, etc...) J) Priest Also refer to Summon Rebalance for changes specifically about summons. Divine Terror : - Duration 20s -> 30s Salvation of Time : Change to a lasting beneficial effects which adds 0.5s to every beneficial effects every 1s. That effectively halves their ellapsing speed of buffs (including SoT itself : it lasts 20s with a base duration of 10s). Basically still add 10s but : - Now benefits from PL and INT - Now applies to effects cast after it (especially useful for Vanishing Strikes...) - Useless to cast several times in a row - The most important : now a single effect cannot have its duration more than doubled. It is still a very good spell, even better than before, but it is now impossible to abuse by combining it with Brilliant, and all other buffs will also have to be re-cast again at some point. Hand of Berath : - 5PL -> -10PL - Now auto-hit. Revenge of Skaen : - Range 5m -> 10m - Added a -20 Accuracy effect in addition to Blind. The -20 Acc does not stack with -10 Acc from Blind but the idea was to create an effect that goes through Perception Resistance Blessing of Wael : - +5 All defenses -> +10 - Now works vs any kind of attacks (not just melee ones) - Now targets Will - Changed the Blind affliction (which was too redundant with Skaen's Revenge) for a random effect of -10 PER, INT or RES. Symbol of Berath : Added acid Keyword Gaun Spells : - Added Plant Keyword (bugfix from CP, not base game) Wael Confusion : - Added Illusion Keyword (bugfix from CP, not base game) K) Monk No changes but fixed the glitch from Community Patch that prevented Shattered Pillar to get max 10 wounds after picking lesser Wounds (note that Community Patch add-on also fixed it in parallel) 2) Summon Rebalance : Nerfs are hihjlighted in red, but are part of the same package. Weapon & Armor Scaling :The biggest change is now that all summons weapon and armor scale with level (as Animated Weapons, Summoned Weapons, Companion Pet's Weapons and a handful of other summons already do).They all follow the rules of the table in the link below (+1 PEN, +4 Acc, +15% damages for their weapons and +1AR at level 5, 9, 13 & 17) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/227477-pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire/faqs/76599/non-pl-scaling(Only exception are some of the Tier IX Summons because you get them after level 17. But most of them will have legendary quality weapons, or strong enough weapons anyway. ) Wizard & Monk : No Change Druid : Ondra's Whip, Watery Double, Lashing Vine : no changes. I think these abilities are balanced as they are (and they all scale at levels 5, 9, 13, 17 ).Summon Sporelings :Added Weapon & Armor scaling. All Blights Summons :Added Weapon & Armor scaling. Call to the Primordials :Added Weapon & Armor scaling. Reduced the number of oozes from 3 to 2. Reduced the duration from 30s to 20s. Bog Ooze removed from the list of potential summons, replaced by Lesser Bog Ooze (but with the added scaling, it's actually somewhat stronger).Fire Stag : (Weapons and armor already scaled) (minor) Change its fire shield so it procs on "damaged" as other fire shields, and not on Hit/Crit. Set Engagement limit to base. Adjust base damages to 13 - 19 with PEN 8 (equivalent of a sword with +2 PEN and fast attack rate).Explosion is now triggered by death instead of ability activation. That means Barring Death Door will prevent it from exploding and doing any damages. But when Fire stag is killed by foe, it explodes as if the ability was triggered. Fire stag can still kill itself to trigger the explosion. Explosion has been set to foe-only.Aspect of Galawain :(Weapons and armor already scaled) Adjusted base damages to 13 - 19 with PEN 8 (equivalent of a sword with +2 PEN and fast attack rate). (Wolf gets higher base damage, and Lion has bonus attack speed as previously). Adjusted armor : - base 5 AR -> base 8 AR, - 25% recovery -> 0% recovery. Bear gets +2 AR on top of this as previously. Added an Interrupt on Hit effect to its base attack. Priest :Spirtual Ally :Added Weapon & Armor scaling (its armor scales up to equivalent of legendary plate). Tune down duration to 25s because scaling weapons make him much better at high level and it was already a decent summon. Incarnates : Changed -5 PL for 35s into -1 PL (stacking if used multiple time) for 120s. This counts as a hostile effect and is decreased by Resolve and similar feat. Now for specific Incarnates : - Eothas : Equipment set to Legendary Quality. Replaced one of the priest incarnate by a copy of the first since it had an infinite recovery and could only act once. Duration reduced from 35s to 20s (triple summons would be too strong for 35s). - Berath : Equipment set to Legendary Quality Duration reduced from 35s to 25s (double summons would be too strong for 20s). - Magran : Weapon and shield set to Legendary Quality. Buffed to be a defensive juggernat : Set her CON to 25, RES to 25Armor changed to 14 AR without weakness apart Cold and its Recovery would be lowered from +67% to +34% (this value is the one from a Fighter with Armored Grace wearing a heavy armor). - Skaen : added +2 weapon PEN, +10 Acc, damages set from 14-20 to 18-25 (fast attack speed). +2 AR. (Basically similar to a scaling from Exceptionnal to Legendary.) - Wael : get scaling bonus (+4 PEN, + 16 Acc, +60% damages with weapons, +4 AR). I also gave him +10 CON so its health pool is more in line with other Single Incarnate, albeit still the frailest. I also added +5 DEX, +5 PER. - Rymrgand : No changes to this monster. Chanter : Skeletons : Added Weapon & Armor scaling. They start as poor so they have "exceptionnal" weapons at level 20. Note : "Many Lives..." phrase skeletons don't really scale anyway. Phantom : Added Weapon & Armor scaling. Phantom upgrade duration : 25s -> 60s. Wurms : Added Weapon & Armor scaling. Base Duration lowered from 25s to 18s. Upgrade cost : 4 phrases -> 3 phrases (I have already aligned all chanter upgraded invocations with the cost of their original ability) Wisps : Added Weapon & Armor scaling. Ogres : Added Weapon & Armor scaling. Set their active abilities to 1 per encounter. I didn't want them to be better than Drake at AoE or better than Wisp at Interrupting. Changed their "Down the Hatch" ability : it doesn't provide Tenacious and Robust anymore : this would have lead to too much AR and PEN if added with the scaling. Now "Down the Hatch" is renamed "Ogre Defiance" and only provides 10 health per 3s for 20s. Disoriented drawback has been removed. I added 2 PEN to their attack abilities to compensate for the loss of Tenacious. Drake : Added Weapon & Armor scaling. Duration 25s -> 35s. Added : Ground Immunity, Fear Aura and Dex Resistance that all other drakes have (Dragon Summon gets an improved version of Fear Aura). Knockdowns : - 2 per Encounter -> 3 per Encounter - Damages set to 15 - 25, base PEN set from 7 to 10. - Only affects Hostile Fire Breath : - 1 per Encounter -> 2 per Encounter - PEN set from 6 to 9 Dank Spore : Added Weapon scaling. AR already scaled, but I aligned it with other summons progression. Duration 25s -> 35s. Foul Thing explosion on death : - added 40 - 55 raw poison damages - set Sickened affliction to Infinite duration as announced by the ability. - only affects Hostile - corrected a bug that prevented the Sickened affliction from being displayed. Animated Weapons : Are currently already fully scaled. No change. Dragon : Will receive the benefit of full weapon / armor scaling. In addition to scaling, I'm going to change Dragon stats because they currently don't make sense, with a bottomless pit of health but lower AR and attack than the drake : - Armor 7->10(+4 from scaling) with resistance to Fire and Slash and vulnerability to pierce. (Based on the (scaled) version of the Drake, +1 AR) - Health 200 + 50/level -> 100 + 30/level - Attack : 16-22 CRU/PIER, 7 PEN, normal attack speed -> 20-26 CRU/PIER, 9 PEN, fast attack (+scaling) (this is based on the drake attack, but slightly improved). 3) Miscellanous Changes : Fire Godlike Fire AR : 2 -> 4 Martial Casting : 15% Action Speed -> 100% Action speed when casting summoned weapons. Quick Summoning : 15% Action Speed -> 25% Action speed when summoning. Adra Ban in shop :Added Adra Ban to Una's Shop, for 10000 gold per unit.Binding Block :+15 Accuracy -> +20 Lasting Empower :Corrected CP bug (duration increase applied to many stuff including non-empowered attacks), but I had to go back to base Game version. Bashing Shield : Now Bashing Shield (Magran's Blessing and Best Defense) Accuracy, PEN and Damages upon attacking increase according to the shield quality (example for excptionnal shield : +8 ACC, +2 PEN, +30%) Special thanks to @Noqn for implementing this very clean ruleset. Not applied to Tuotilo's Palm (its stats increase according to Transcendant Suffering / Monastic Unarmed Training as in the base game) Damages and PEN set to base 7-10 with base 7 PEN to match their scaling. Magran's Blessing Fire Shield slightly reduced to compensate for the scaling applied also to retaliations : - 5-7 damages for base Fire Shield - 8-12 damages for greater Fire Shield Last but not least, the expected Cuttlefish nerf !!! : +1 Crew Morale -> +0 Morale

Finding myself with time to spare before my next MOD release. Will take an item request if it is reasonable. Any item type works Should not be over powered, I probably need to tone down some of my items already. Custom Models are beyond me so feel free to pick an existing item model in game. I do have the ability to re-animate some spells. Got an idea for a character build and need an item to fit it, let me know! Link to MOD:

I'll go looking once the remake is out!

fun fact, you can find my photo in M2 if you really look hard. Somewhere around Oyster bay...

Yeah, I loved Mafia1, didn't like Mafia2, didn't play Mafia3. I liked how heavy the cars were in M1 and how bit the recoil on guns. I also liked that it wasn't so "mature" - Scorsese style is all good, but I didn't feel M2 pulled it off. Lighthearted bits of M1 and on the nose references made it fun, rather then wanna be prestige film copycat.

^ Cool wing suit, Not Lara Croft.

I don't know man. You ban buzz cuts and stuff and next thing you know the 80's are back. *shudder*

Majority of remote workers are more productive and communicative Exactly what we have been discussing at work. Offices are an expense whose value is questionable. However, being an employee of the state I've found there is great resistance to change and small incentive to improve the value the taxpayers receive for the money that is stolen from them.

Yeah, I remember you took the socialite etiquette skill because it fit your character even though I'm not sure it was ever used. Sorry for the double post but couldn't get it to combine satisfactorily on my phone.

Well they are synonyms.

Im happy but surprised Canada has agreed to live trials, I always admire people who are prepared to sacrifice themselves for the greater good I can guarantee you Volo will volunteer for this, I cant believe he would allow China and any of his fellow citizens to be part of saving the world without his own contribution?

Three murderers break into Kentucky woman's home past midnight and murder her. The murderers were reportedly surprised that the occupants of the house would attempt to resist the burglary attempt after having been rudely awakened by the sounds of their home being broken into seconds earlier, and started blindly firing into their home, striking and killing the woman. The boyfriend of the woman who was murdered is currently in jail for defending himself and his lady against the plainclothes, breaking-and-entering, midnight murderers even after it turns out they were, in fact, unable to read, having executed their search warrant upon the wrong house. Oops, think I wrote "murderers" instead of "police officers" a few times there. C'est la vie: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-woman-shot-killed-after-kentucky-police-entered-her-home-n1205651 (e): FML, this is not the politics thread. Or, uh, wait...it turns out, they also had coronavirus! More to come...

Better call the electrician back, he messed up your posts.

I really wouldn't be putting all metaphorical eggs in the vaccine basket. Politicians kind of have to, since it's the only really feasible way they can 'win' they have to act as if it's coming. Vaccines for upper respiratory tract illnesses are notoriously problematic due to it being more or less treated as 'external' by the immune system, which is partly why (other reason is below) there are so many cold viruses and the like and you get them so often; and vaccines for ssRNA viruses are problematic too, you need a flu jab every year for example and it isn't 100% effective even then. A vaccine may well be effective for preventing any ancillary organ damage (hearts, kidneys etc) though, which would be a plus and quite possibly worthwhile by itself especially if the stroke like side effects some have noted can be prevented too. That Oxford vaccines seems to be pretty solid in theory as it is targeting a virus protein which seems to be under strong selective pressure to not be altered, but there's a lot more to it than having it work in monkeys. There are literally dozens of vaccines under development, we'd be lucky if even a handful make it through to full development let alone 'work'. End of the day the reason we don't use RNA, let alone single stranded RNA, as genetic material because it mutates way too readily and produces far too many variations. But that is also precisely the reason so many common viruses use it, and why we typically don't have long term immunity to them. All the lovely antibodies in the world won't help if the antigen they're looking for has shifted thanks to some random UV photon hitting the wrong/ right base. Measles isn't a good analogue for sarscov2 though, it's one of the most infectious viruses around and is for example fully airborne. You can get some idea of what the actual herd immunity level would have to be by looking at the peak R for sarscov2, iirc it's about 2.4 average transmissions per case with (approaching, not literally) minimal precautions. So if ~60% of the population is immune R will be below 1 and the outbreak will slowly die out. At least in theory. And that 60% is certainly a lot.

It seems like a sizeable amount of content. My guess is they want to release this now during lockdown, but it's an expansion that is not yet done being developed. So they will do a cascaded release instead of a monolithic expansion. Seems like a fitting approach for the times honestly. I guess we'll see if the content was really worth it once it's all launched, but I'm always glad to see Civ games getting more support.

Well...you know what time it is

Is it spreading deaths if you just let people over 80 to die instead giving them care in order to keep ICU beds free? Even if you believe that there is no way to prevent exposure to the virus over time then trying to build herd immunity is useless and we should just hope that for some miracle disease doesn't kill all the people in the risk groups. There is already vaccines that works for animals and their human test have started or are starting soon. So there will be vaccines in autumn given that they may not give immunization for humans, just mitigate disease and increase number of those who have minor version of it. And of course there is change that those vaccines have side effects that prevent their usage in humans. And of course it will also take time to produce enough vaccine to vaccinate everybody or even those who belong in risk groups. On theoretical level people counted dying from the virus aren't always same, because that would mean that 100% population gets sick and there is no methods to mitigate or prevent its effects on those who are hospitalized by the disease. Corona doesn't seem to have spreading power to actually infect 100% of the population even if there isn't any preventative methods used and we have medicine and treatments that increase change that people hospitalized by the disease will survive it. So number of people dying from the disease depends multitude of factors which have more or less effect on how many people disease kills, but in any case number of deaths is not written in stone Edit: Herd immunity principal Common definition Herd immunity (also called herd effect, community immunity, population immunity, or social immunity) is a form of indirect protection from infectious disease that occurs when a large percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, whether through previous infections or vaccination, thereby providing a measure of protection for individuals who are not immune But of course like with any term people have habit to use it in different context and give it different meanings https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/52/7/911/299077 The term “herd immunity” is widely used but carries a variety of meanings [1–7]. Some authors use it to describe the proportion immune among individuals in a population. Others use it with reference to a particular threshold proportion of immune individuals that should lead to a decline in incidence of infection. Still others use it to refer to a pattern of immunity that should protect a population from invasion of a new infection. A common implication of the term is that the risk of infection among susceptible individuals in a population is reduced by the presence and proximity of immune individuals (this is sometimes referred to as “indirect protection” or a “herd effect”). We provide brief historical, epidemiologic, theoretical, and pragmatic public health perspectives on this concept. [sources 1-7] 1. http://physwww.mcmaster.ca/~higgsp/756/Fox_1971.pdf 2. https://www.nature.com/articles/318323a0 (paywall) 3. https://academic.oup.com/epirev/article-abstract/15/2/265/440430?redirectedFrom=fulltext 4. https://academic.oup.com/cid/article-abstract/9/5/866/479603 5. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1007626510002 These were clearly from same school of though as 213374U 6. https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/197/5/643/836719 7. https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20103167361

Unless you know Shadowrun lore then DMS, the first game, might have an interesting story to tell but in all other respects it's generally the worst of the lot. The second game I think hit the sweet spot for most people but I still prefer the third game. Speaking of which, I'm going to fire up the high level follow on campaign right about now since KOTOR2 still doesn't work for me.

I'll let you guys know what the electrician says

My body is Reggie.

I'll just throw my 2p in about why I personally still haven't got around to playing Deadfire, despite loving the first game and White March. For context, that makes me a lost customer I suppose. As a disclaimer, I feel some people in these threads (I've skimmed a few threads, so I'm not picking on anyone in particular) are getting a little defensive. Devs and fans should both wonder why the success of the first game didn't translate into the second game, or this community will continue to dwindle and any hope of PoE3 will dwindle with it. I hope in 10 years time, the PoE community is thriving, and doesn't just consist of a few bitter fans sniping each other over where things went wrong. Anyway, my post is purely an explanation of my own opinion. But if you get enough opinions, you have data. There's lots of reasons I could talk about. Some have already been discussed at length elsewhere. The most important one for me personally, and the one that probably biased me against the game from the outset, is that Deadfire as a setting is boring. I loved the setting and lore of the first game. Digging through the books and scrolls you find, learning about this world that you're only exploring a tiny fraction of. And most of it (Twin Elms not so much) is really interesting. The world is intriguing, and explores ideas that are normally only skimmed over in fantasy. It made me hope there would be sequels where you could see more of the world. Raedceras and the Living Lands in particular stood out to me as interesting and unusual as far as fantasy settings go. I was eager to see more. Instead, they went with Deadfire, and a pirate motif that was already feeling tired years ago. My enthusiasm deflated. A few secondary issues that I'll skim over quickly to save boring you: - The Eothas statue storyline didn't hook me. Core story seemed uninteresting and uninspired. That's a big problem for a rpg. - I'm older now. I have a career and family that keep me busy. I don't have the same kind of time any more to dedicate to long rpgs. For instance, I loved FF7 as a kid. But I'm older now. The remake came too late for me. I don't care any more. Rpgs are a serious time investment, and I don't have that kind of time any more. Is the audience for CRPGs ageing out of viability? I don't know. Maybe? At least those in it for nostalgia. - But if you're a young whippersnapper, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, just coming to CRPGs for the first time, there are a lot more CRPGs to choose from now. What makes Deadfire special? If you're in it primarily for the gameplay, PoE doesn't stand out as much as it did when it was released. - Unlike, say, Zelda or Final Fantasy or Fallout, Deadfire is a direct story sequel. It's like picking up the third Harry Potter as your first Potter book. Sure you can, but I can't imagine why you would. It sort of sets a cap on what your audience is going to be. What they should have done was Discworld, creating new stories with new characters in a shared world. I know there are fuzzy examples that don't fit neatly into either category, but I don't think Deadfire is one of them. This is turning into a ramble, so I'll end on some positives. I still have a lot of hope for PoE as a setting. There's so much potential there. Hell, I'd even be up for some novels. Think about what makes PoE unique. Because it's not pirates.

In honour of V-E Day:

I see altering the quintessential RTwP series into TB one, fundamentally different than simply offering a new TB game. Fans of RTwP enjoy plenty of other TB games. It's understandable to be annoyed at such a switch. While TB people (at least the vocals ones) are diametrically opposed to letting RTwP games just be. We saw this with Torment and again with BG. At this point BG3 is just "A Forgotten Realms game set in Baldur's Gate." It's basically a marketing stunt to captivate new audiences off of the prestige of a series they would never actually take interest in. It's just fashion branding to be honest. So you might just say "well it wasn't ever really a BG3, let it go." And people are... but that's not how the game was spun when first being revealed, people had to attenuate to Larian's marketing garble. When RTwP advocates get annoyed you get the following: Yuppie trying to dismiss the merits of RTwP without engaging: "Ooh look I'm also "grognard" who likes BG, but I'm also hip and trendy who doesn't "reee" like those ugly old school grognards who can't get with the times." At which point the actual grognard points out that the yuppie is by definition not a grognard, and the yuppie responds "See what I mean, all that ugly gatekeeping. Good riddance." (I say this more as a yuppie millennial on the younger side myself, who prefers RTwP.) You have hoards of people who read lengthy fantasy books who would have no problem reading all of Pillars 1 text. Then you have people who moan about an RPG actually world building before their eyes; Who get upset that the game isn't mostly strategy, but then don't want to even grok the actual tactics and strategy of the RTwP system. I enjoy TB, but I'm frankly annoyed by how the vocal TB players portray RTwP games, and further how those same people want the rich text to be chopped down. PoE1 is really not a bad lore dump, and it's like reading a graphical novel at best. This isn't Game of Thrones. Live and let live, but this should go both ways. Why is RTwP always encroached upon? My point is vocal TB fans force preference falsification on RTwP communities, they manufacture consent, they lead devs away from the existing market base, convince devs that the market just isn't there. When in fact tons of people engage with all the aspects of narrative and tactics of these infinity-like games. At best you just need to offer an easy story mode for the few that just want story. Which Obsidian actually does! Bless them! Like, I can't imagine a more wholesome and thoughtful approach than Obsidian's, and yet you have InXile and Larian bending over backwards for people that really just prefer the flashy 3D graphics of Divinity to the flat look of Pillars. Once people actually play the games normally they cite Deadfire as being one of the most gorgeous games ever, but it looks flat in trailers. The problem is that these games can be a hard sell, especially in the manner in which the market understands marketing. How will you convince the fantasy reader to set aside FF14 and pick up Pillars when all you do is market it to people who most enjoy lighting barrels on fire to achieve sparkly dazzling easy wins, instead of DnD style tactical exploits. How do you draw in the RTS fans. How will you draw in the avid readers, the lovers of graphic novels, the lovers of visual novels? How will you make it a rich experience for grognards and new comers a like? I think Obsidian does, and mostly the issue is market exposure, not the market. Yeah, I'm saying a lot. But it's all true. Obsidian has been doing great work at modernizing RTwP and I'd hate to see it fall the wayside. A reason enough to be skeptical of fighting a two front war.

It's a dead horse at this point, let the idiots at Bethesda keep it. How about, you know, expanding on The Outer Worlds? Which, imo, is better than Fallout, as Tim Cain, lead designer of both games, agrees.