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The war on Christmas will continue until it ends its illegal occupation of November!

A wild @Azdeus caught on camera.

So they are turning Mat into a bad guy? That would be a pretty bad move. Mat's book story was one of the best ones.

Hi, I wanted to start a topic about something that we haven't done so often here : trying to make class Tiers. The reasons why it wasn't made so often IMHO are because : - The game is fairly balanced. As you'll see below, I don't believe that there is actually a bad class as a whole, - Do we want to consider cheese ? What means a Tier if one can break the game ? - Multiclass and Singleclass need separate ranking (but that's what I did) Therefore, before starting a review, I wanted to state the assumptions I made : First, a Tier means "how easy it is to include a given class in a proper party build, how easy it is to find a role for it". A high tier is fairly easy to include, a low tier would require specific care, maybe even a niche build to include without feeling gimped. As you will see, there is a grand total of 3 Single Classes that I really find gimped in basically all case, or at least not robust enough compared to respective multiclasses. I'm obviously excluding mods. I'm excluding cheese builds. I'm excluding solo (a whole different game). I'm not discussing in detail multiclass options. There are some combinations that doesn't work (especially with subclasses) but I'm considering each class separately for MC. So here we go. The result is objectively quite subective, but I think the topic is interesting enough to make a try. For each class, I'm listing its main selling points, and I'm adding sometimes a short synthesis, especially for lower tiers. Multi Class ranking : Great+ : Chanter : - 2 passive Chants are super good support - Chanter's summons are the strongest (ancient weapons especially) - Can do the above almost passively, so you have to do whatever you want and/or wears the heaviest armor Great : Druid : - Best healers - very serious DoT, raw damages helping circumvent PEN issue from casters - some very good CC - Decent Summons Cipher : - Charm effects - Decent secondary healer at the cost of 1 ability point - Disintigrate is sick - Ancestors Memory is top tier party support even if you don't cheese - Weapon bonus damages and PEN Rogue : - Around +100% weapon damages and a raw DoT. Everything else is icing Paladin : - So tanky - LoH is arguably the best single target heal - Instant rez - Auras are about half as good as Chanter's double chants, which is already very good Monk : - So many passive buffs for both caster and martial multiclasses. Probably overall the best "other class support" multiclass - Summons on top of this, which use renewable ressources Solid : These ones worth including, but I feel that they are less good at filling a specific role as the one above. Fighter : - "Free and instant" +3 engagement slots - Easiest access to Accuracy self buff (though non stacking), sometimes quite important for caster MC - Basically invincible with Unbending active A living crowd control. Does not do much more apart poking reasonably hard. (Oh, and Tactician belongs to the upper tier). Wizard : - Many self buffs, especially defensive. Wiz is a martial tank - Decent Crowd Control, debuff damages and summons Wiz in this Tier is probably the weirdest choice in this list. The thing is, I'm often struggling to give MC wizard a proper focus. You need to have a proper plan for them (like tanking, spamming Minoletta burst, etc) or you'll end up casting only a couple self buff and underpenetratind with your AoE spells. Wiz can be God tier with Wall of Draining abuse though and in general, Wizards will rock with the proper combo. Priest : - Heal, rez and party buff. Even their summon is a healer. - Various other spells that do various other useful things. Priests are a bit unfocused, and get some mehish spells at low levels. I often find they lack a bit of punch (as Multiclass of course). Note that Priest is also technically the most abusable class through BDD and SoT. Solid minus : Same as above, but struggle a bit at being better than other combinations. Barbarian : - Some tanking, but not on par with Pal, Wiz and Fighter - Frenzy lines, especially Spirit Tornado, is arguably the most cost effective effect of the game (only contest is SC barbarian Tier 9 shouts) - Blood thirst is combo material. Barbarian suffers from mehish active abilities, the downgrade of Carnage from PoE1 (which was the pillar of the class design) and bonuses on kills that aren't that reliable. That being said the class offers decent self buffs, mobility and passive. Ranger : - Pet is basically a passive summon, that you can stack with other summons. And summons are good. - Plenty of stackable accuracy - Oh boy, I love Tranquilizing Shot, most reliable buff remover. Pet is hard to handle. Ghostheart could be considered as Solid tier instead of Solid- for this sole reason. Rangers are a bit unfocused, require a ton of ability points, and their main selling point (stackable accuracy) does not work very well with multi target classes (that's why Seer is arguably their best MC caster option). Single Classes ranking : Consider that the SC are evaluate with MC option in mind. A SC can be good on its own, but if the corresponding MC is better, I will rank it low. Great : Wiz : - Oh boy, those Tier 8 - 9 are good. Especially Meteor shower and Salvo. - +2-3 PL is good for casters Priest : - Symbols are crazy spells. Spark the soul too. SC Priest is therefore a top tier nuker. - +2-3 PL is good for casters Monk : - Whisper of the Wind and Resonant Touch really kick ass - Inner Death can one-shot - Scaling fists and still plenty of Monk goodies Solid : Druid : - Great Maelstorm, the reason to pick SC druid - Finally, a rez ability. Rest of Tier 8 is a bit meh compared to Wiz/Priests - +2-3 PL is good for casters Cipher : - Shared Nightmare - Time parasite basically allows you to do more - +2-3 PL is good for casters Barbarian : - Shout Tier 9 upgrades are god Tier and cost nothing to cast. SC barbarian is a nuker. A couple of other goodies (Heart of Fury with dual mortars...), but this one is the gamechanging one IMHO. Good only if you know what you're doing : Paladin : - Need to build your Pal and your party around Divine Retribution. But then, become an infinite ressource class. Rogue : - Need to build around Gambit and/or Vanishing god mode. Subpar : Ranger : Whirling Strike OR Twin Shot need to be build around. There is a couple of cool stuff, but I honnestly see nothing really gamechanging with SC Ranger (which does not mean it is not viable, just that MC are basically better, Scout or Seer being the obvious options). Fighter : - Sundering Blow is great for what it does (enable party to harm that boss). - Clear Out upgrades are nice, but that's about it. Chanter : - +2-3 PL only benefits invocation. - Eld Nary upgrades is awesome, but in my experience has a tendancy to bounce back quite often. - that 4th weapon is neat. It's not that SC Chanter is bad, it is just that MC chanter offers about 75% of what SC does, plus the full benefits of another class. SC Chanter is mostly there because MC Chanter is arguably the best Multiclass option.

Pfft, overraction, he was still going the right way As "luck" would have it, that was basically my commute this morning, though not intentionally... She's just playing hard to get, afterall it's a Swedish mating dance. She want's the D(rift)😄

The view from my seat at the famous Greensboro Coliseum: More pictures incoming...

losing weight makes you lose the thermal insulation of your body and winter becomes colder

It seems that the game discerns between flanking from Perception afflictions/Phantom Foes and actually physically flanking. The former counts as a debuff while the latter stacks with everything. This means that the usage of certain abilities are actually quite nuanced, so for example you want to physically flank the enemy before you use Confounding Blind, or else you'll have two deflection penalties that don't stack with each other.

You are right, he is born in January, the 7th to be precise. 😛

Found a French press while decluttering, so get to drink non instant coffee.

A deadpan "What a maniac" is certainly something I wouldn't usually expect to hear from a news anchor live on TV.

The people who complain about Christmas on a religious basis always amuse me, seeing as it's been a federal holiday for a long time (apparently since June 28, 1870, according to Wikipedia, however accurate that may be.) Anyway, Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it.

Just to clarify, I agree the " war on Christmas " is real. So my earlier post when I said " I consider it misplaced and unnecessary " I meant the criticism towards Christmas, not you raising this. When I went back to read my response I can see how my comment wasnt necessarily clear In many countries some people on the left do attack and criticize Christianity for unfathomable reasons under the auspicious of " freedom of speech ". I have no issue with normal, constructive criticism of any religion but their is an element of people that mock religion as opposed to just raising valid issues. Personally on this forum I think the criticism towards Christianity is reasonable and fair in almost all examples I can recall where we have debated this topic But GD do you want to know something ironic, in the UAE and specifically Dubai they put up Xmas trees in certain malls and recognize the Christmas spirit. And yet the UAE is a Muslim country so you can easily ask " why would a Muslim country recognize Xmas in their malls " ....its because they respect and appreciate the large number of expats and foreigners in their country that are mostly from Western countries who are Christian https://lovin.co/dubai/en/sponsored/mall-of-the-emirates-unveils-a-fabulous-christmas-tree Yet in the USA, or in some states, they dont put up Xmas trees in certain malls anymore for reasons I have never understood or agree with. At least that is what I believe, it may not be true? Anyway their is an irony when a Muslim country can recognize Xmas but a Christian country has less emphasis on its primary religion And for interest sake I was trying to find a link that highlights how in the US its true some states have less recognition for Xmas but I found this interesting link about the historical " war on Christmas " instead which I found pertinent https://www.livescience.com/32891-why-was-christmas-banned-in-america-.html Did you know Christmas was once banned in Boston?

HA! Good Fun!

Tell them I said hi and see if they can put a word in with ol Soros. I've been waiting on getting paid for helping destabilize western civilization for 6 months now. Waiting for the moment to return.

Would you like to know more? Yikes, looks like the jig is up, folks.

My sister has been dating her boyfriend for 6 years, he is great. Very different to me and my brothers, he doesnt talk much but if you ask him something he normally responds constructively and makes sense ....unlike me When I moved to Cpt him and I have been drinking by ourselves and he is great fun and very agreeable and he loves his social drinking...like me so we get on very well Anyway he proposed to my sister today on the beach and in the rain and it was very romantic and sweet. So we all very happy and I have a new brother in law and I can go to another wedding which I love because at most weddings I attend nowadays their are always single women, great food and free alcohol ....what could be better 🥳

The celebration of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I have a lot of problems with you people! On a serious note, Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate, everyone. I'm technically Christian, but I'm not going to preach nor push a Bible in anyone's face. I just like spending time with family at this time of year. I'll leave you with the best Christmas song ever:

I think Hawkeye is my favourite from all the Marvel Disney shows so far. Simply because it didn't devolve into some kind of giant CGI battle in the end.

I want Anna Kendrick to play me. She doesn't look remotely like me, not least because I'm a man, but I feel like she's got the range to pull it off.

esai morales is the obvious choice for Gromnir. we have a bit less grey hair, but otherwise is visually kinda close. *sigh* that said, am thinking patton oswalt is the more appropriate choice. HA! Good Fun!

Plundering my wallet on a monthly basis is reserved for the local Red Cross (https://www.redcross.org.au/) and Foodbank QLD (https://www.foodbank.org.au/QLD/the-foodbank-queensland-team/?state=qld), both of which needs all the help they can get up to the Christmas Holidays

congrats to you for not having seen dune or shang-chi. is at least prima facia evidence you is not paying disney or hbo for the privilege o' having your wallet plundered monthly. should be applauded for such. HA! Good Fun!

I’m really trying… but I don’t remember watching a single movie released in 2021 😔 edit: nor 2020 for that matter. Mostly stuff bought on dvd. Deadpool and Valerian being the last two I bought. A bit behind the times 🤔

Only if Zack Snyder directs.

I watched only three movies released in 2021, and they are Censor, Pig, and the Summer of Soul. Guess I have to give it to Nicholas Cage's Pig, which was a genuinely fairly good anti-revenge film.

Where's oby when we need him.

I did a few more tests and you can avoid the curse if you're invisible or withdrawn when the table is destroyed. So the easiest way to beat the encounter is to let the enemies destroy the tables and then proceed as usual.

Since the year is almost over, what's everybody's favorite movie of 2021? Mine is Malignant. I wrote about it at length before, but this was one of my favorite horror comedies since Army of Darkness (though I'm still not sure if it was intentionally a horror comedy). There are 2 acts of mediocre and somewhat boring horror to get through before the movie goes off the rails in the best way possible in the glorious and absolutely bat**** insane 3rd act.

Meh, the "war on Christmas" is a real thing. But it's a little blown out of proportion by the folks aggrieved by it. There is a definite anti-religious bent in the political left in the US. That leads them to be mildly antagonistic to anything folks attach a religious significance to. That drives some folks crazy and makes them to shout "Merry Christmas" whenever someone says "Happy Holidays". Next thing you know you have a full on tempest in a teapot. Like all such it amounts to nothing but social media rants and website clicks it gives Carlson and Maddow something to vent their spleen at.

Unicorn of War might be wrong about everything, but at least he's capable of arguing his point. It was my subversive commie friends. Also, eh, I doubt our counter terrorism unit would knock. That's not elite enough. edit: I also think these posts aren't going to age well, because I'm thiiiiiiiis close to switching everything back. Sigh.

The issue with the flaws is... hmm. TV and books are different. I'll spoiler it to be safe, though there are no spoilers for anything unaired. As for the leaks, I wouldn't dispute their accuracy, just the interpretation

Weeeellll, that depends. It's working all right for some I guess. I fortunately don't live in the USA, where it's increasingly not working for millions, where (for example) for profit prisons and health care are leaving people in some pretty awful positions. (I think I heard they're gonna cut it out with the prisons, so that's neat.) Here in Australia, (and many other Western nations) there's a few more limitations on the 'free market', and as a consequence it's not quite the apocalyptic hellscape the USA has been shaping up to be these past few years. Seems like some of our population (politicians included) would very much like to head that way though, which is a bit of a bummer.

then what were the purpose o' the following: Gromnir its normal and expected to anyone like you and me who were born during the Cold War to be opposed to Communism and old school Socialism. And when I say expected its because the "stinking Commie subversives " created an ideology that is a proven failure ....the Cold War was lost by USSR and Red China....as in lost.The West won And Im sorry that this historical fact doesnt suit the false narrative of our socialist forum friends like Majestic, Comrade and Pidesco but the lessons of history are immutable. Dont shoot the messenger and I know you know this So when people espouse these stimulus socialist initiatives like UBI, that has never been successfully implemented anywhere in the world except for limited pilot projects, we should be wary. And yes we were raised to be opposed to " bad commies " not because we bigots and right wingers but because these systems dont work and dont lead to sustainable governments and economic transformation ... you take a shot at the ubi defenders, by quoting where we pointed out the lack o' self awareness o' an individual simultaneous taking shots at communism/socialism and advocating ubi and uhc? was this your attempt at a bit o' a self dig? you were cartoonish defending the anti communism bit? no? then... uh... "So I dont see how pointing out the truth of what ideologies work and what doesnt work is somehow a lack of education...its not if its true" weird. now the guy with wet pants, he is funny. the thing is every time somebody calls out what is funny in his posts, he doubles down. is either the longest running bad joke on these boards (now that vol and his nazi schtick is gone) or he is genuine serious when he claims to be serious. on some level am embarrassed to admit, we do find the situation humorous. nevertheless, same time we feel kinda bad when we try and suppress laughter when wet pants kid pounds his chest declaring a win over those laughing at him. we shouldn't laugh at such a situation, 'cause is kinda horrible, but is difficult not to laugh, eh? mr. wet pants serious thinks he is making jokes at somebody else's expense. HA! Good Fun!

The Matrix 4 or Resurrections... I mean if it had to happen I guess I'm glad it happened like this. The movie is ok, kind of like the epilogue to the LotR where the Hobits come home and there is one more adventure waiting for them, or at least that is the feeling I had. Minor spoiler The movie is not going to be a box office hit like the previous movies, I'm almost completely certain, but I don't think people will hate it. The only thing I think they could have done a little less of, are the

Why aren't there more Maori metal bands flooding the scene? 🤔 Not only their language is naturally metal, so is culture!