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I'm at the airport waiting for my flight. First time flying since at least a year before COVID. Charlotte Douglas International hasn't changed a bit. I got here 2 hours before boarding in case checking in and TSA took long, but the staff here is doing a great job keeping everything moving. As far as airports go, Charlotte Douglas is pretty nice. I made sure to get a nonstop flight both ways, I don't want to do a layover in Atlanta. Maybe Atlanta's airport has gotten better since my last visit there, but last time sucked pretty hard. Anyway, off to southern Florida I go for Christmas on the beach. Also, happy birthday @ShadySands!

And that's that. 9 hours in total. Hunter is the best wingman, only passed Venice 3 from him wrecking everything Didn't get all the medals but eh, I'm old.

Happy Festivus! It's also my bday

Kinda funny how two of the best Priest kits out there are on NPCs. Vatnir and Xoti's kits absolutely rule. Vatnir's might be my favorite Priest one out there. Having such a diverse toolkit as an offensive Priest is great.

Did the island chain and learned the Helmsman's true identity. Afterwards I went back to the Crusade and now morale is going down the toilet because I was too good at the war lmao. I'm able to cheat morale via toybox but it's kinda ridiculous how reclaiming half the Worldwound and keeping it stable is a negative because reasons. At least I have a lot of Beer Elementals. I like to think they end up intoxicating a lot of people defining Drezen after you know what happens. Cayden Cailean is definitely best God. Time to do Ivory Labyrinth and hope I can do Arue-chan's quest and the drow thing while waiting for the Queen to get here and raid Playful Darkness' Playpen.

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character in glass onion are all pretty thin but the detective call everyone into one room to explain the mystery scene are pretty good

Thanks @majestic I was going crazy with a very long post! Too many bugs!

Yeah a rogue/cipher with magic amanth can destroy HoW in its first form without ever really fighting it. It’s funny Auranic is generally considered the easiest mega boss but I totally agree that with certain builds she’s actually a pain. Interesting comment about the obelisk’s terrify punching through RES immunity. If that’s the case well, that sucks! Agree with your thoughts on PoE1 mechanics. I miss the interrupts and prone-lasting-forever fun. And being able to learn grimoire spells for wizard (although now we can permasteal and infinite cast any spell..). If you want to play a more acceptable barb in poe2, I suggest having a look at @Elric Galad balance polishing mod. He gave the barb some much needed love. Anyway, family time… Merry Xmas!

Sacrifice / Worthy Sacrifice I guess? But you still have to get him down to near death first, I assume? I haven't had much trouble with Huani o Whe. It can take a while if you don't interrupt or zerg the oozes trying to merge but they don't threaten my character much. Probably the worst megaboss is Sigilmaster Auranic... I get hit with Arcane Dampener or Cleanse at the wrong time it can be bad. Or if I get terrified by the Obelisk of Terror (or is it Mystery?). That one puzzles me as it happens sometimes even when I'm wearing the jester hat with immune to resolve afflictions... I haven't played POE1 in a while so some of the details of the mechanics I didn't recall, like I forgot about the DR / AR. In almost every area I prefer the POE1 mechanics I think. The multiclassing in POE2 is so good though. Opens up all kinds of possibilities you didnt have in the first game. Wizards got nerfed hard from POE1 to POE2 and yet somehow emerged even more broken lol. Priests got mega nerfed for no good reason. Same with druids. Don't recall them being particularly powerful with access to the whole spellbook. The most broken build I used in POE1 was a barbarian. Did the ultimate using a high int low dex barbarian that used quick switch to attack absurdly fast (I had a macro on my mouse that just paused and switched weapons twice really fast so it looked smooth) and that time siphon rapier to extend buffs forever (including the invisibility you get from cape of the master mystic). Barbarian got nerfed to hell too. Some of the strongest classes like ciphers and chanters didn't receive any meaningful nerfs I don't think. Besides ciphers having god awful high level spells. Actually chanters seemed to get even stronger as they have some good high level spells now but lost brisk recitation (unless you're a troubador, which why not). Also prefer the interrupt system in POE1. There were some decent builds centered around high interrupt frequency. Proning was an actual debuff instead of a long interrupt. And no idea why they got rid of a lot of the universal and cross class feats. Like why can't I take quick switch unless I'm a fighter? Or why can't I take deep pockets unless I'm a rogue? I guess mechanically the one thing I like is that Petrify does not basically insta-kill you anymore. Fights in POE2 take way, way longer IIRC. Even lot of mook fights are grindfests because there's 20 enemies with 500 health for some reason. I like the companions in POE2 slightly better. They're a bit more fleshed out since you're almost forced to take them at various points. ---- I keep trying to reply to things and it doesn't work. Thank god the forum saves my post in the editor...

Posting on one line as forum appears to just eat everything over a single paragraph. Completed my second Cyberpunk 2077 playthrough as street kid. Tried to get the achievement to buy all vehicles, which I did, but achievement didn't unlock Considering restarting my Witcher 3 playthrough, maybe I'll even complete it this time...

It enables Hauani o We install-kill which is very nice. I’d love to see a mod for unified mechanics across the 2 games, with PoE classes and multi classing. One thing I dont know is if I prefer PoE 1 Damage Resistance or PoE 2 Armor Rating/Penetration system. I find the latter a bit too punishing at places for certain builds on max difficulty.

The world's greatest hacker who has discovered all the dirty secrets from his mobile command center in the Nevada desert eats tuna straight from the can, no need to sully it with either macaroni or cheese.

Bummer. Hmm...is it worth the side trip to get Savage Cunning? Just +1 perception, though +2 survival is also nice. One of the more useful skills and it allows us to put more skills into areas that scale with gear like History. Also some nice gear on Sayuka. Mahora Tanga in Cignath Mor, Xefa's Empirical Explication, Stalker's Patience. Though I don't need any of these. I did use the Bear Cub quite a lot though, best pet for boosting fortitude (+8). Guess I'll swing by if there is time. Only decent gear on Poko Kahara is the Adra Ban... Beza's Tooth Blade is a decent saber but there are a thousand decent sabers. If First Blood could be extended and was a general action speed boost it would be amazing, but it only works with the weapon. I mean Marux Amanth is decent for priests and rogues I guess. Thundercrack is a decent pistol but pistols...meh. Nothing for a hierophant. The worst thing about POE2 is how far apart everything is. I don't mean just for the ultimate challenge. The areas feel really disconnected. It's like a great RPG interspersed with this crummy minigame of sailing across the ocean...Also where are the dungeons? Not a single proper dungeon in the whole game. The Forgotten Sanctum is the closest thing I guess. I really enjoyed the Endless Depths. Now that was a good dungeon. Not approaching the level of Durlag's Tower or Watcher's Keep but pretty damn good. Definitely preferred POE1. But I've played it a million times. Only thing POE2 does better is have multiclassing. And slightly better gear selection. Adding multiclassing to POE1 would be really interesting. And why the cut from a party of 6 to party of 5? Six is way better. Five really limits who you can take since you generally need a wizard, a priest, and at least one tank. Leaves maybe 1 character you can rotate. Ah I'm rambling again.

I agree with Skaen and Wael, but why Woedica? I've never used one but the writ spells look kinda meh. Besides writ of sorcery, which would be great to shutdown spellcasters. Maybe write of war. Either would make an excellent pre combat cast, assuming they can be cast pre-combat... I haven't encountered many (any?) Woedica priests out in the wild though. Inquisitor Lodwyn is a paladin, but maybe there are Woedica priests with her. I never fight them because I tend to do that encounter early. Then there's the Woedica cult in the subterranean temple north of Poko Kahara. Usually skip that too, kinda out of the way. But I'm not sure any of them are priests of woedica. The leader Gulfaryc is a paladin. Checked the wiki and there are four companions. It says two of them are wizard and ranger, one is unlisted but gear looks like a fighter, last could be a priest but there is no link. Have you seen any priests of woedica roaming around, and if so where? Skaen priests are the best and I've run into a couple. The Beina encounter is great for stealing spells. You can pull the enemies one at a time with traps and the Goldpact priests have withdraw and other standard priest spells, while Beina is a priest of Skaen and has Escape and Barbs of Condemnation, both good steals (but mostly escape). A pure mage with major grimoire imprint could presumably steal Shadowing Beyond (amazing), plus presumably Spiritual Ally and Minor Avatar. Heck, then you could just cast Spiritual Ally while invisible. Fun stuff... Quite a few Wael priests out there, though I can't recall where exactly. Arcane Veil and Llengrath's Displaced Image add a ton to their survivability and Gaze of the Adragan is great CC. Confusion to a lesser extent. I miss the confusion of POE1... as far as I can tell the confusion of POE2 doesn't cause enemies to target each other, their AOE spells and abilities just hit everyone. Yeah I kinda regret taking Blessed Harvest already. It is spammable but doesn't hit that much because enemy fortitude tends to be high and my weapon accuracy buffs don't apply. Also doesn't seem to do more damage on a crit. Does good damage on graze. IDK why the devs changed the formula for accuracy and deflection on POE2. In the first one perception got you 2 accuracy per point, and resolve got you two deflection. Same as will/fortitude/reflex. Now those get double but not accuracy and deflection, meaning for most enemies the easiest thing to do is target deflection. I seem to get hit with debuffs less often though. That's probably it... enemy accuracy is also relatively lower so they can reliably hit your deflection but it is harder for them to crit you with paralyze or something that ends your game like in POE1. I don't regret slaughtering the temple though. Was a relatively easy way to grab withdraw and restore from Saewyn. Vatnir has some good spells yeah but nothing unique that I can steal. I do want his High Harbinger robes though. They're the best way to damage yourself with lightning attacks. Can get like +200% lightning damage if you have all of (deltro's cage helm, high harbinger robes, kuaru's ring, chameleon ring, sash of judgment, water lily sandals, milx or boras for pet (so you can crit), enough lightning penetration so you overpen (the heart of the storm feat helps, can also intentionally kill yourself with chain lightning for system shock), ogre might gloves, and griffin's sword). Not a good cloak to improve spell damage as far as I know. On my last run I managed to get +210% lightning. I used the Scroll of Maelstrom though, that does more damage than any spell if you max arcana and use the listed items except swap gloves for the left hand of the obscured. It is really really risky for an iron run though. You have to time great maelstrom so you're hit with ideally just one lightning bolt. And you have to web vela so you doesn't wander in and die during the 6 second cast. Also if you have an injury you can easily kill yourself, if you get hit by crush/freeze then shock, that kills you, then you wake up and get hit by another lightning bolt that does +150 to 200% lightning damage and that's 2 more injuries right there. Safer to use chain lightning but doesn't do quite as much damage unless your might is stupid high. Whoa, big tangent there lol.

Oh, come on. No Medal of Valor? Due to the game's hilarious medal system it's possible to walk away with a Medal of Valor and 18 other medals while still ending up on the losing path of the campaign. The weird counting of the tally system makes it so that losing your wingmen in certain missions is actually required to get them. One on the winning path, two on the losing path work like that, but it's basically a design oversight as those missions were not meant to award medals as their required points total is impossible to reach unless very specific conditions are met that give more points than they should.

Yeah you have to. Iverra has to give you the diving equipment so you have to do it as part of the RDC quest line.

as shady observed, tuna is a shelf stable and relative cheap protein, so we saw it often enough as a sprout. canned tuna and cheese were not uncommon grandma meals, and our personal arsenal o' recipes benefit from their inclusion. am also having a cod au gratin dish which is a win. got a couple outliers o' parmesan + fish and greek feta + fish, but canned tuna and cheese is hardly unknowns at our table. HA! Good Fun!

Space Dandy 7: Dandy enters the wacky space races, baby. Like Chainsaw Man, this show is way better than it has any right to be. Wait until Radical Edward shows up.

we got moral opposition to veal given the lack o' regulation o' the industry, but am posting 'cause we suspect more than a few kids with a birthday so close to christmas identified with young frank cross, albeit to a lesser degree. regardless, nitha-anpetu waste, and may you survive yet another winter. HA! Good Fun!

@ShadySands Happy Birthday, and enjoy all those celebrations. Build up all the memories you'll never be able to tell future children about...

given the pervasive but understandable ignorance regarding the history and attributes o' fascism, there is a tendency to misuse the term. being a racist redneck don't necessarily make a person a fascist. likewise, so-called libertarians and far right conservatives screaming, "fascist," whenever oppressive laws such as mask-mandates-during-a-pandemic is enacted fails for being similar misguided. here in the US, all too often people believe fascism were initially a uniquely european problem which contributed to ww2 and then took hold amongst white nationalists in the US in the 50s. is disturbing rare to encounter people with more than the most cursory grasp o' fascism beyond a certainty that nazis deserve the fascism appellation. HA! Good Fun!

@ShadySands Happy Birthday!!! Now that youre finally 21 let me buy you a drink! EDIT: Just set my out-of-office autoresponder. The world can suck it until 3 Jan 23.

I feel like Xoti's subclass shines a lot early in the game when bursting down a few enemies quickly can make a big difference. Later when enemies have a lot of hp it's less impactful like Thelee said. I've definitely been saved more than once on Gorreci street by Xoti landing a clutch Blessed Harvest

Hello! I just published a mod for a variety of new choices for class/subclass/multiclass for all of the companions and sidekicks. These are just mods that I did for my own personal playthroughs over the years but I figured I would publish them on the off chance that anyone else might want to use them too. The link for anyone that's interested: https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/657 Edit: copying some of the mod description here directly: These are my personal class/subclass/multiclass modifications made to companions/sidekicks over the course of many playthroughs. I wanted to play lots of different combinations but don't like using hired adventurers so this was my solution. Included are: Aloth: Bloodmage, Transmuter+Tactitican, Unbroken+Illusionist, Priest of Woedica Eder: Blackjacket+Streetfighter, Tactician+Cipher, Unbroken+Trickster, Priest of Wael Fassina: Ancient, CorpseEater+Shifter, Evoker+Assassin, Shifter+Conjuror Konstanten: Beckoner+Berserker, Helwalker+Ghostheart, Mageslayer, Shifter+Nalpazca Maia: ArcaneArcher, Gunhawk+Assassin, Gunhawk+Cipher, Stalker Mirke: ForbiddenFist, ShatteredPillar, Skald+Debonaire Pallegina: Bleakwalker, Troubador+Goldpact Rekke: Berserker+Devoted, Enchanter+Bellower, Fury+Helwalker Serafen: Mageslayer, Psion, Priest of Skaen, Soulblade+Furyshaper Tekehu: Lifegiver Vatnir: CorpseEater, Rogue+Skald Xoti: Priest of Gaun+Streetfigher, ShatteredPillar, Priest of Skaen Ydwin: Beckoner+Soulblade, Beguiler+Trickster, Psion+Priest of Berath

Happy Annual Solar Flyby Day @ShadySands

Cowboy Bebop, episodes 3 and 4. Faye is introduced...and the show immediately gets better. As you might expect, I'm not super keep on her design, but her personality/mannerisms kind of remind me of an older version of Fuu from Samurai Champloo (albeit more intelligent/wacky/skilled...so maybe not like Fuu at all, but somehow the thought still entered my brain), and she's fun to listen to. We'll see how long that impression lasts.

Happy birthday! @ShadySands

Yes, PoE's Rogue is one of the weakest classes on PotD. The way the difficulty spike is achieved (more monsters with higher endurance/health) makes single target damage dealers less viable than characters who can target AoEs. That's why Rogue plays very well in the lower difficulty tiers with fewer and weaker enemies. There you can kill very quickly as a Rogue and one dead enemy out of 3 has a much bigger effect than one dead enemy out of 10. This is not a Rogue-only problem. A Fighter, played as (sturdy) single target damage dealer, is also a pretty weak pick on PotD difficulty. As is a Ranger who focuses on single target damage. They can still be useful though if you use them with high mobility and a focus on caster-hunting. It can be quite effective to rush and kill enemy casters such as Priests and Wizards asap - even if your Rogue goes down in the process.

My wife's reaction as well but it's homemade Tuna Helper basically. I kept it fairly simple because I wasn't sure if my family was going to like it, especially after the weird looks. They ended up killing the whole batch. It's super flexible and I highly recommend it. You can use box mac and cheese or make it from scratch and punch it up however you like it. It was a staple growing up being it's cheap, easy, and shelf stable.

Imo the best Priest subclasses (spell-wise) are Woedica, Wael and Skaen (Skean mostly for solo runs though). Xoti's only special stuff is Blessed Harvest - and while that's cool it's not really that impactful imo. Vatnir is nice because his subclass has alternative dmg sources to fire - but so has Berath...

Tuna mac and cheese

Okay something is messed up with the game's reputation system. I just killed 6 or 7 people in the temple on a parallel run (minus iron / wael) and the text said I took minor reputation loss for each one, but I still had a 5 rep with them and at this point on that run I'd done nothing but fix the wagon on maje and get the blessing from waenglith. Anyway I guess that answers one question...doesn't seem to matter if I slaughter them. Though Adaryc is even higher level than I thought. Couldn't tell with Wael but my L14 char showed him red with 3 skulls. Pretty hard to put down, and his buddy the Iron Flail gunner has 3 white skulls. Saewyn is a Priest of Eothas. You can steal withdraw (and sunbeam) but lots of priests with withdraw, not hard to get.

Regarding your first question I'm not entirely sure, but I seem to recall pretty much always getting tier 3 inspirations when I have done this. @Constentin Lévine, our POE2 loremaster who discovered this, could probably answer this question. Even if you get a lower tier inspiration they're overridden I think by a tier 3. Her Tears can also proc multiple inspirations if you are surrounded by peons or hit a big boss with multiple rays, due to the secondary explosions, like Her Revenge. I'm not sure if this works with O Eld Nary. I don't think it procs them multiple times like the other two. As for Refreshing Finale, you can empower any invocation and get an empower point back. However, things that proc multiple times, namely Her Revenge and Her Tears, will give you back multiple points, basically refreshing all of your empowerment points. So a chanter and another class that get a lot out of empowering, such bas druid, monk, priest and wizard, make a great MC combo. It's for this reason that vanilla wizard is probably the most OP for a Loremaster build. Edit: I checked @Constentin Lévine's post on this, and discovered that O Eld Nary doesn't proc multiple inspirations. The only other invocation that does is Boil Their Flesh and its upgrade. I never really use this invocation, but I understand that it's pretty buggy unless you have the Balance Polishing Mod.

Hah, I'm sure a lot of people fell for that. My daughter has done a few of the Stan Winston courses on SFX makeup.

Spy x Family 25 We finally get some progress with Operation Strix. But Anya falls asleep during the mission. Edit:

High On Life The character appearance selector is a cocaine mirror. I don't even need to see any more. Game of the Year 2022.