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I'm probably in the minority, but I would wholeheartedly welcome a less open and more deliberately paced and focused game.

I have no clue about Mariupol, but I have colleague from Kharkiv, who is ethnic Russian, and he never had any nice words about Putin, even before the 2014 invasion of Donbas. After 2014 a lot of ethnic Russians changed their mind about Russia - Ukrainian relationships and now mostly support westernization. Despite Putin's wishes... What is happening now, are moving them even further to the West. This sentiment is pretty much outlined by number of refugees moving from Ukraine to Russia and Belarus, despite safe corridors to there being open almost all the time...

https://www.romania-insider.com/romania-photo-toys-bridge-sighetu-marmatiei-ukrainian-refugees

Said the man who got it right the first try! Getting it wrong a few times changes your perspective.

Asking the real questions!

But what annoying pop song did he set the video to ?

I think he was referring to ethnic Russians in Ukraine, not Russians in Russia.

Apologies for the late reply. Regarding gear, most of the game it was the already mentioned Grave Calling + Kitchen Stove combo. Kitchen Stove's special is great, its Thunderous Report with monk Int has a huge cone, deals high damage and debuffs foes with Daze for a long time. And of course, instant Ascension. I like having a Priest with Salvation of Time to extend its duration. With Seeker's Fang taking over after Seeker, Slayer, Survivor (Spider Flurry has a far smaller cone, but its often possible to get 3 enemies in it... and it's devastating - while also instantly filling your Focus) . Other notable stuff: Helm of the White Void (+10 Accuracy is awesome - and you take advantage of it all the time with Stunning Surge/Forbidden Fist or the Cipher debuffs/CC). Devil of Caroc Breastplate is awesome for nearly every character, offering a good balance of speed and protection, bonus immunities and bonus resources. But not exactly critical here. Abilities... Parting Sorrow is important for monks, particularly FF. Stunning Blows+Surge, Swift Strikes+Flurry, Duality+Turning Wheel, Thunderous Blows, Heartbeat Drumming, Two Weapon Style. If you have the slots, Crucible of Suffering is very nice also... and Rooting Pain. Also Improved Critical (with Community Patch). Flagellant's Path was already mentioned, I liked it a lot, but I guess it depends on play style (and PL VI slots are kinda sparse). On the Cipher side, Borrowed Instinct, Disintegration, Secret Horrors, Ectopsychic Echo, Mental Binding. Amplified Wave can be strong vs mobs. Hammering Thoughts are a good passive. Draining Whip, of course. The Empty Soul is great. Whispers of Treason and Puppet Master can be situationally very good (and kinda staple for a Cipher), I liked Ring Leader less (short range, makes combat more chaotic, many enemies can quickly flip from Charm). I also like Mind Plague a lot, its a strong debuff. Situationally also Eyestrike. Recall Agony and Psychovampiric Shield are strong vs bosses. Echoing Horror can be nice - but not exactly critical.

So Sauds have given middle finger to both US and UK, and now UAE are sticking it to the US even more. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-angered-after-syrias-assad-makes-historic-visit-uae For some reason, US is also thinking that antagonizing China even more will benefit them? https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-expands-travel-bans-chinese-officials-hours-after-demanding-beijing-condemn-russia Now, we just wait for Sauds and China to implement that Yuan based oil trade https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/goldman-admits-saudi-china-oil-trade-signals-erosion-dollar-reserve-status , and then stick it to US by inviting Assad to normalize relations? Oh, and also India does not give a damn about the whole situation. Buying Russian oil hand over fist. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/india-ignores-western-pressure-buys-cheap-russian-crude Does US plan to sanction half of the world now? Or they will start realizing they've lost the hegemon status and actually start recognizing others as partners?

Whenever I re-watch Sailor Moon, which will eventually happen, I'm not certain whether I want to re-watch the Viz dub, try the Japanese, or become one with the True Moonies by watching the original English. It will be quite the dilemma to decide when the time comes. On one hand, that's gratitude for you; on the other, I'm sure Cobra was acting like a moron. ...Again, I've never actually heard Cobra talk, but I just get the feeling from the perpetual 'not particularly intelligent' look on his face that I have a pretty good idea of what his personality is like, . Gesundheit. Pearl would've been a great name, thank you very much. "Purrrrrrl" where they draw out the first syllable every time they say it, not so much.

I had idea for an aesthetic update to combat. When you have a 1-handed weapon and a shield equipped and in combat with a much larger enemy, occasionally have the character bash their shield with their weapon, and shout something intimidating like "Bring it on!" or "I'm not scared of you!", maybe even custom comments based on which weapon type. It adds a little flourish to the game and I thought it would be a fun addition. And a fun edition.

The morale of the fiercest army in the world is indeed high

Hmm. I doubt he was arrested for something posted on Feb 24 whatever Ukraine says*. There were at least two videos from Ukrainian sources purporting to show a MLRS in- and a MLRS firing from- the mall carpark on the day it was hit so it seems likely it was one of those, not something from 3 weeks ago. The one of the MLRS firing was timestamped only a few minutes before the mall was hit (but was also not really able to be independently confirmed, except via its poster being Ukrainian and posting it as pro Ukrainian). The Russians also had video of a MLRS entering the mall, though a certain degree of skepticism about that would be understandable, and there were certainly secondary explosions- though that too is not absolute confirmation of weapon stores. They've also released a lot (relatively, since they aren't releasing much) of official videos of them using drones to tail MLRS and the like back to reloading stations and then hitting them while reloading to take out the supplies as well. Balance of probability is that it was a legit military target. *Good to see BusinessInsider maintaining its reputation for excellent research and in depth analysis. Citing Russian outlet... pravda.com.ua for the Feb 24 date. Hmmm. Bit odd of the Russians to use a Ukrainian url, it's almost like the Ukrainians have a Pravda too?

Looks like the Canadian sniper, Wali, is alive - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wali-alive-despite-russian-disinformation-1.6393191

Hah! I installed a nude mod and hair mods for Dragon Age: Origins. The hair mod had an obvious effect. The nude mod I had because it had great skin texture on the character's face when taking screenshots. I had completely forgotten about the "nude" part. Then I went back to Ostagar and found the crucified King. Who suddenly was nude

https://www.newsweek.com/putins-bombers-could-devastate-ukraine-hes-holding-back-heres-why-1690494 What's actually going on with the special operation in Ukraine. This whole time the U.S. has been projecting its air obliterator strategy it uses on brown countries but the facts show that the Russians are being very careful with their attacks. Probably a bit to early to reveal truth bombs like this on Newsweek so I'm afraid the authors career might be in jeopardy. @Mamoulian War is of course very wrong in Russians as a whole turning on Putin, as he maintains a 70% support which has been the mean consistency throughout his tenure. Maryana Naumova chimes in here in response to Arnold's crap response to the operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saSAP0UUnyU

Amazing, thanks for this @Haplok! I think I'm going to have to give this one a go. It looks like a wonderful combination of burst damage, sustained damage, control and mobility. Exactly what I'm looking for... AND makes good use of some very fun looking weapons in Seekers Fang and Gravecalling. Never too wild about guns, but I'm excited that they only seem to be part of the puzzle here. I am going to give the Forbidden Fist route a try as well. It could easily 'blunt' my edges, or help round the build out - we'll see. Logically, this is a character that wants to get in, crush a squishy and avoid getting hit while dishing out the chaos... but FF looks like it helps round things out a bit in terms of resilience and, as you point out, some interesting options for the curse. The Assassin/Bloodmage combo discussed has also piqued my interest too, as it appears to offer pretty much the same selling points listed above. Really, the variety offered by Wizard spells should really have made the decision for me... but for whatever reason I just can't look past ciphers at the moment. Yes, their spells seem to be far less flashy, you get far fewer to play with, and they playstyle is as limiting as it is engaging... but I keep coming back. I think flavour is a big part of it, for better or worse.

I tried watching the first episode of Ergo Proxy but fell asleep. I'll try again tonight. Maybe you get some enjoyment out of voice actors saying very cringe lines? Like second-hand embarrassment but you enjoy it. Well the true Moonies are a cult led by a Korean guy who claimed to be the Messiah of Humanity.

I said the "True Moonies", not the general fandom. The True Moonies, of course, are a secret sect of Sailor Moon fans who...um, well, they're the fine cultured folks that...well, you know what I mean! (...Yes, someone made a partial backup of the Sailor Moon Says channel.)

I was sitting here, reading this wrong for a while... but yeah, the chopped heads crop up regardless, of course.

He's a classic clever character type who is also monumentally dumb, and a brave and fearless character type who spends an inordinate amount of episodes yelling and running away from being shot at. To be fair, I think it was a budget issue - since Dominique looks exactly like her sister Jane, I think they reused animation of Jane from an earlier episode rather than do new animation with Dominique in her Galactic Patrol outfit.

He'll give you heads whether romanced or not. Also, somewhen between Chapter 3 and 4 he apparently watched "Se7en" as he started giving heads in boxes.

This is a fascinating and terrifying point by the way. Mariupol is the city that has been shelled the most. According to its most recent census, 44% of the population are ethnic Russians. This reveals an attitude: Putin is neither concerned about getting his own people killed (i.e. soldiers doing strategically foolish things), nor about killing his own people (see above).

I mean, that's fine if all you want to do is date. At some point you need to realize that step 3 goes both ways, and if you want a relationship, you need to work at it and accept the flaws. Honestly it's the flaws that tend to keep it interesting.

Okay, I'm officially jealous and hate you now. I loved the Quest For Glory games. I spent way, way, way too many hours just running around in Quest For Glory 1 (well, technically Hero Quest, iirc) fighting trolls just because it was awesome.

Local population is on their side in the whole Ukraine, even the ethnic Russians. Because Putin is currently shelling the cities with the highest ratio of ethnic Russians. Kyiv is the sole exception.

No, Ukraine is not difficult to traverse. Quite the opposite. It's big, flat, open land. Only obstacles are rivers and cities (and the weather, although the roads don't turn into mud like in WWII). There was a reason the Germans advanced so fast until the rain set in. Cities can be ignored if you have them surrounded and occupy the area around them. Deny them supplies and access to the air and they are just as much prisons as strongholds. Even medieval generals sometimes just put up enough siege to contain the defenders while ravaging the country side. No offense to the Iraqi's but the army was very much sub par quality (even the much reported on guard was little better than most western countries draftee's when it comes to training and equipment). Two main differences. Ukraine uses a lot of western technology. They have the local population on their side (well, western Ukraine anyway). Saddam Hussein inspired fear in his subjects, not loyalty. Ukrainians will actually grab guns and Molotov c0cktails and put up a fight. Iraqi's lined up in nice, orderly queues to surrender as fast as possible. Anything, for most of them, was better than Saddam. The US got it's strategic (military, not civilian... definitely not civilian) priorities right and focused on first knocking out anything that could pose a threat. Radar, SAM, Airports, supply lines (anyone remember those pictures of endless columns of burned out vehicles on the road?), meaning they could move unopposed in the air and use air power as interdiction and disruption rather than just very expensive long range cannons. It really looks like Putin thinks like a KGB agent, not an army general. Except, his assumptions are so wrong, he would make a very poor KGB agent.

I just suggested the use of Bug Guts/Juice for paint/tattoo's in the future. This would be awesome for shield decal's as well!

In the future, perhaps a DLC, I'd like to see us being able to use bug guts/bug juice to change/paint the color (doesn't have to be a lot) of items we build. Perhaps even allowing us to add tattoo's to our characters. I feel that would be a fun addition.

Soon.

The Sailor Says channel mit be gone, but there's still some old dub stuff to be found. Granola bar!

Yes, the Russian power image is being badly damaged by this conflict. They are starting to look like a paper tiger, and Putin is likely to act increasingly rash.

https://www.ign.com/articles/ken-roberta-williams-colossal-cave-3d https://thewitcher.ly/ANewSagaBegins

It's well known that Valve can't count to 3.

I'm waiting for steam deck 3.11 myself

I realize the OP probably made his decision regarding the Transcendant, but still I want to share my experience. I played an Ascendant/Helwalker, close to melee, and it worked marvelously. I used Grave Calling saber a lot, killing skellies summoned by Pallegina, which both Blinded, Paralyzed, damaged enemies and gave Focus (with Kitchen Stove blunderbuss offhand for Thunderous Report instant max Focus and Ascension, huge damage and Daze opening - and faster attack speed in melee from dual-wielding). Later on moved to Seeker's Fang rapier with its Spider's Flurry and mini-disintegrations. Used Flagellant's Path to zig-zag trough the battlefield, often one-flurry killing squishies. Was super fun. Ascendant can spam spells, which is particularly helpful with high levels ones, like Disintegration. And Ascendant's high Focus ceiling was also nice for Seeker's Fang damage scaling. Plus Ascendant gets bonus damage when Ascended (therefore almost always). I really had a lot of fun with that character. A FF would have less damage from might, but also be MUCH more durable. And +50% duration of hostile effects PLUS enemies unable to heal AT ALL is just awesome!

FF/Soulblade is one of my favorite combos. I usually start go with 15 STR, 10 CON, 14 DEX, 18 PER, 15 INT, 18 RES with Berath's Blessings bonus points, and with Community Patch. You can easily get to 35 RES with gear, and inspiration and buffs if you do a no-rest run. I like going for Nature Godlike for the extra PL to boost the FF attack. If you are playing the vanilla game, you're better off with beguiler as pointed out above. You can start out unarmed, but then get Tuotillo's Palm. Ultimately you'll probably want either Magran's Favor or the Seeker's Fang in your main hand; both are great with this build. Once you're buffed and geared up the curse should last less than 3 seconds, so you can just alternate the FF attack and soul annihilation, which is devastating. So you'll almost never auto attack, but will hit with your main hand weapon (with the modals on for the rapier/axe and shield) when you swift flurry/heartbeat drumming procs. The modals won't slow you down since you'll rarely autoattack. Note as well that if you cast Borrowed Instincts on enfeebled foes, the duration of the buff will last much longer. There is great synergy between these subclasses IMO.

So - that would have been in the game if ship combat would have been scrapped soon enough.

But did H. P. Lovecraft write "The Beast in the Cave" setting it in Arizona's Colossal Cave? Nope! **** I thought this was interesting, as I'd never heard of SNEG before (probably old news to everyone but was news to me): SNEG Director Chats Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box Classic Set

In other news, Russian childkillers denacified in Kharkiv the house of holocaust survivor of four concentration camps during WW2...

That's fine, just go Winter, add Winter Witch levels and use Polar Ray for the big ones, spammable Hellfire Rays should be good enough even without that, assuming that fix doesn't come from a tweaks mod, although without loading dice rolls it's not going to have as much oomph... pity, that takes the entire fun out of it. Could of course use Arcane Trickster instead, but where's the fun in that, endgame feels like everything and the kitchen sink is immune to sneak damage. Sure it works, it's just not really worth playing a Devil MC for. edit: Leyline Witch with Winter Witch should get some really crazy high caster levels for Polar Ray with the overcharge ability active. That should one-shot everything in the game that's not scripted to survive a fight. Don't necessarily need to play the moonlight romance with Aru, could always just love Cammy the crazy pants, or perhaps Daeron, he'll probably gift you a chopped off head or two.