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Display only Bug confirmed (apparently for all instance of Brilliant this description may happen) but seems to be a Vanilla thing (cause it also appears in French. I haven't modified anything in French, modified stuff appears in English. Anyway I won't correct it this time. New version 2.5 has just been uploaded : Deadfire Balance Polishing Mod at Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Nexus - Mods and Community (nexusmods.com) Feel free to test, especially SC Paladins and Rangers (and Fighters for Take the Hit) You may be interested in @NoqnStandalone Seeker Slayer Survivor mod to try new builds : S4 - Standalone Seeker Slayer Survivor at Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Nexus - Mods and Community (nexusmods.com)

for the fox viewers btw, if you think you were only lied to 'bout january 6, you are being embarrassing naïve. summer 2020 protests and covid coverage? HA! Good Fun!

All of the analyses I'm reading, from very reputable military/think-tank sources, continue to claim that Bakhmut is going very badly for the Russians and that in fact the offensive is effectively stalled, that casualties are still 7:1 in favor of Ukraine, that Russia's last remaining professional soldiers are who are dying there, and that even Russia's artillery, which was their one and only advantage, is now severely attrited. And as such, if the Russians enter house-to-house urban warfare with the Ukrainians inside the city, their forces will be completely attrited. And yes, this is deliberate Ukrainian strategy to destroy Russia's ability to carry out any offensive operations ahead of Ukraine's own offensive later this spring.

Also, if you don't pre-order, Putin wins.

We don't have any laws that prohibit us from burning religious books, and people tend to use that right to protest against Islam (Usually a person of Danish and Swedish citizenship that does it). There are alot of flag burnings and stuff like that, the ME was pretty angry a couple of months ago. Theres also an conspiracy going on about Swedish Social Services kidnapping/forcefully taking muslim babies and selling them to Swedish foster homes. As for China, we also gave Gui Minhai, that we're trying to get back home from being kidnapped from Thailand, and we keep airing critical TV shows about China and such. Sámi have more than a little right to be pissed at us, we continue to **** them over. But we're not good enough at sports to foster any amount of hate 😄 Funny thing, in the 70's or something like that, Norway offered Sweden a cut from their oil in exchange for stakes in Volvo. We said no. Big oof. We don't hate Norway, we jealous.

I'm working on a build (MC monk) to do an ultimate style run using the BPM mod, which removed most of the abusive mechanics like using Strand of Favor to extend invisibility with Slippers of the Assassin. I've solved every encounter but this one. I could go seeker or survivor route but these force rests, which I'd strongly prefer not to do. Also the Slayer's Claw is really nice and lets me get Energized from Thunderous Blows. This build actually does fine soloing the changeling's dance, but NOT with Vela in tow. My experience is the rogue and ranger prioritize Vela as a target, and 9 times out of 10 kill her. If I'm able to start the encounter stealthed, I can move her far enough away and circle around, take out the rogue and ranger, and then put myself between Vela and the ciper, monk, and fighter. But I can't start stealthed. Not sure if it's because Humaire sees me or the transformation turns me into the ironclad construct and immediately emits a fiery aura which starts combat. In my vanilla ultimate run (still unverified, Obsidian) I used the Slippers of the Assassin to start invisible plus stealthed, and that does work, together with circling around and starting behind the ranger. So I'm trying to figure out how to start the encounter invisible, or otherwise protect Vela without abilities, potions, or scrolls. I figure this is impossible so I'm focusing on starting invisible. I have tried the following Gulping a potion of invisibility at the end of an arena fight. The duration is 30+ seconds which theoretically should be long enough, but the invisibility from the potions ends when combat ends. Didn't know that, unfortunate. Tried leading out Humaire and company with sparkcrackers, all the way to the south end of the hall, then running back, stealthing, and starting the encounter. I do start stealthed this way but it still turns me visible on transformation. Killing Humaire and company with summons, then killing the last one myself to proc the Slippers. This does give me invisibility, and with 18 INT, Strand of Favor, and Ooblit equipped (consoled him in), this gets me about 12 seconds of invisibility. It isn't enough to even get through the forced conversation with the ghosts of Humaire and that other guy. After step 3, led an Arena Warden near Cook Corrin to the pedestal using sparkcrackers then killed him to proc invisibility. This ALMOST was enough, but time passes while the slaying face yells "luck is for the weak" and all that, and it runs out. I think I need somewhere in the range of 15 to 20s of invisibility. After step 4 I ran out of ideas and here I am. Are there other ways to become invisible out of combat? Or some way to extend the slippers invisibility even longer or skip the slaying face's speech? Or some other way to get Vela out of harm's reach when I can't use abilities etc.? If I can't figure this out I'll have to go Seeker or Survivor path and lose my Dawnstar blessing, nature's resolve, alchemic wits/guile/brawn, amira's blessing, rikuhu's blessing, etc., which is not ideal. I can probably still complete the challenge this route, but I'd either need to skip these buffs, do the forced rest *first*, circle back to get buffs, or do SSS last. Second choice is probably easier, but both routes are a bit circuitous. I'd normally do SSS => HOW => Dorudugan => BW => FS => Auranic => endgame, I guess this way I'd go Auranic => BW => FS => Dorudugan => HOW => SSS => endgame. Not a very clean route, wastes several days going to Auranic first, but otherwise I'm fighting Auranic without the buffs which isn't great either. Also have to fight the Purakau and some SSS fights without the buffs, so...much prefer not to rest. EDIT I tried noqn's Seeker Slayer Survivor standalone mod but it doesn't seem to work with Vela, so although I have Hylea's Challenge enabled she doesn't appear, I guess because I skipped the scene at the beach. There must be a way to console her in but I can't figure it out. There just has to be a less tedious way to test this fight than to run through half the game with vela in tow and unlock SSS... EDIT 2 Solved the encounter using invisibility and very careful kiting, see my post near the bottom for details.

I haven't played Aeon yet, but when I tested out builds it gave me the impression of adding stuff to a character more than buffing what a character could do, if that makes sense. Sohei is probably the best monk for going the full 20, imo the monk needs some accuracy and polearms are stronger than unarmed due to better crit ranges and reach. And you get a pet on top of that, which you can ride to flank and flurry every round.

"Games are important because they “grow the economic contribution of Australia’s creative industries”, the report says, and because they can bring new audiences to other more traditional art forms, like classical music. This speaks to the longstanding, limited ways in which games are understood. Their ability to make money and their inherent youthful coolness are championed, but the complex ways in which games are themselves a crucial art form, and made by creators who are themselves artists, remain unacknowledged". https://www.theguardian.com/games/2023/mar/06/finally-australia-sees-video-games-are-important-but-it-cant-be-only-because-they-make-money Interesting but sad. Just in case, building a career in any creative field is extremely risky, be it game development or novel writing. --- https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/06/videogames-history-rome-expeditions/ If as art, the article above seems fitting. If as products, then Bloomberg does investigative journalism (haven't read personally, but heard of it). I think, in general, there are enough quality articles, but due to the volume they might be overlooked.

The difference between figurative and literal use of language is indeed an important one. I am reminded of that old chestnut about an immovable object meeting an irresistible force -- which was intended to be taken literally and which therefore contains the answer in the question itself.

Used to have them last 4-5 days, see people log in after work, out for sleep, repeat. Was a great experience though, battle would have ebbs and flows then ends on maintenance day, hah

WoW PvP is something else, after 17 years people still fight on the roads in AB, forgetting the lessons of their mothers and fathers. Damn, my WoW main is almost 18.

You and 80% of game developers.

Btw, I think it's really interesting that English-speaking games journalism never grew up, so to speak. There have been some well-written pieces, of course, but it's astonishing how rare they have been. On the whole, the print era was probably a little better than the current web era, but even that was never very good[*]. (If anyone wants and manages to prove me wrong, I will be very happy.) I remember Neil Gaiman making the point that comics were never "taken seriously" as a subject for proper journalism, which I think has been true and probably still is, although I don't follow comics at all anymore. There have been exceptions here, too, one famous one being e e cummings's take on The Krazy Kat comic, and the American critic Gary Groth has done some fine work, but as a rule and as a whole... it's not good. [*] I contributed in the late 1980s, and I think it's fair to say that mostly I maintained the status quo, as far as quality was concerned.

we mentioned this with the rittenhouse case, but there is a viscous circle o' stoopid the gun rights folks refuse to acknowledge. because americans is so well armed, every cop traffic stop is creating a reasonable fear for cops 'cause the occupant o' the car reaching under his seat for his driver's license might just as well be reaching for a gun. we pointed out how if rittenhouse had been killed 'stead o' being the killer, those who killed him woulda' benefited from the same self defense case law. some folks reflexive rage whenever there is a cops shooting o' an unarmed individual, but the law protects all american morons and not just cops. is so ez to show the possibility o' fear in any conflict, and because the possibility any american you meet has a concealed weapon, with a beyond a reasonable doubt standard benefitting a criminal defendant, americans will continue shooting each other with the full protection o' the law... presumably 'cause some folks think firearms possession makes 'em more safe contrary to any statistical evaluation o' such claims. again, americans want guns to feel safe. however, because potential everybody has firearms, there is always a reasonable apprehension o' lethal violence during any tense altercation, particular when those conflicts happen at night. we want guns to feal safe, but the fact any american might have a handgun on her person means we is all reasonably afraid. is mind numbing stoopid, but is no good way to fix the problem. HA! Good Fun!

New picture now!

I'm quite happy that I feel no hype at all for D4. Very likely will not spend any money nor time on it.

I canceled all my classes and ran all the way home to beat you! 😜

Hogwarts Legacy, I got as far as the character creator and the very first cutscene. What the heck is wrong with all the hair options, and why do the faces all look so glossy and gross? I just can't ever seem to into 3D graphics these days. I ended up settling on a black lady because she had the least lizard-like skin out of anything I could come up with, and then the first cutscene had her open her mouth and immediately look like a complete doofus with cartoonishly bad face expressions. Ah, I miss ye olde days of the silent protagonist. Well, I suppose I didn't really want to spend a hundred-plus hours on an endless collectathon anyways...

Atelier Sophie 2 Afterparty Crusader's Kings 3 Friends and Foes Pathfinder Wrath: Commander Pack Dead Cells Queen and the Sea

I cant believe I watched that whole Soulja Boy video...it was hypnotic.

Eleven-year-old Maira lived in the White that Wends and had a vivid imagination and was fascinated by histories, particularly of Ancient Engwyth; her parents ignored her activities, having become more obsessed with hunting seals and fish and extending their igloo to keep up with their neighbours. One night, as Maira was sleeping, an armoured knight on a horse bursted out of her icy wardrobe. Maira was scared and hided as the knight rode off into a forest setting where once her bedroom wall was; when Maira looked back out, the room was back to normal and she found one of her ice cravings on the wall similar to the forest she saw. The next night she prepared a satchel with supplies, but was surprised when six boreal dwarves spilled out of her wardrobe. Maira quickly learned the group had stolen a large, worn map, and were looking for an exit from Maira's room before they are discovered. They found that Maira's bedroom wall can be pushed, revealing a long hallway. Maira was hesitant to join until the visage of a menacing aurochs – a supreme being – appeared behind them, demanding the return of the map. Maira and the dwarves fell into an empty void at the end of the hallway. They landed on an island in the Deadfire Archipelago during a battle over said island. As they recovered, Maira learned that Randaluq was the lead dwarf of the group. They were once employed by the supreme being to repair holes in the barrier between the world and Rymrgand's domain called "Frost Hewn Breaches", but instead realized the potential to use the map he gave them to steal riches. Over the following years, with the map and Maira's help, they visited several locations, stole a lot of riches and later developed a strategy that good-looking and exotic Maira would seduce and then beat up wealthy people to get their riches - which wasn't very nice of them to be honest. She soon was known as "The Leech" because of that. One day one of those people turned out to be a powerful animancer and engineer who wanted to visit the old Engwythan ruins in order to learn more about soul manipulation and the technology the old builders used. He wanted to leave for the Dyrwood and secretly enter some of those ruins that the Glanfathans are guarding. He also wanted to assemble an expedition for that. What he didn't want was to be robbed by some notorious boreal dwarfes, so he launched a barrage of missiles from the awesome armor he invented and burned them to dust - sparing Maira because he was not only a mighty animancer and engineer but also a lecherous old fart. Maira remembered that she always wanted to see all these engwythian things when she was a kid. So they went out for the Dyrwood. The Engineer got slapped a lot on the way... =================================== The Leech =================================== Difficulty: PotD -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Barbarian -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Pale Elf -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: Deadfire Archipelago - Mercenary -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats: MIG: 10 CON: 10 DEX: 20 PER: 10 INT: 18 RES: 10 -------------------------------------------------------------- Skills: Stealth 4, Athl. 5, Mech 0, Surv. 9, Lore 8 -------------------------------------------------------------- Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important) Accurate Carnage® Greater Frenzy® Stalwart Defiance(!) Weapon Focus Noble(!) Weapon & SHield Style(!) Savage Attack Vulnerable Attack® Abilities Elemental Endurance(a) Carnage(a) Frenzy(!) Thick Skinned® Threatening Presence® Savage Defiance(!) One Stands Alone® Brute Force (! if you have a priest with Painful Interdiction, else take smth. different) Bloodlust --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (*=additional echantments by me; !=important, r=recommended): Weapon set 1: Spelltongue(!) (Durgan Refined*, Slaying Wilder*, Exceptional*, Accurate 1, Time Siphon, Spellbind: Conc. Corr. Siphon) & Black Sanctuary Weapon Set 2: The Grey Sleeper ® or St. Ydwen's Redeemer Boots: Boots of Stability® Head: Dunryd Demon® (+2 INT) or Garodh's Chorus v. 2 (+3 MIG, Preservation) Armor: Blaidh Golan® (Exceptional*, Break Out, Preservation, Durgan Reinforced*, +2 DEX*, Crush Proofed*) or Wayfarer's Hide (Superb, Freedom, Durgan Reinforced*, +1 INT*, Crush Proofed*, Spellbind:Nature's Vigor) Neck: Cloak of Protection Belt: Blunting Belt® Rings: Ring of Overseeing®, Ring of Unshackling(!) Hands: Bracers of Deflection Quick slots: selfbuffing Potions & Scrolls --------------------------------------------------------------- First of all: I mainly used a pale elf because a) the colors of pale elves (light blue, white and so on) fit to Spelltongue's blue tone and b) because they have nice elemental resistances. The Leech is a tank with good dps. How is this build going to be a tank with this stupid stats you say? Well... the key of his tankyness is the fact that Spelltongue endlessly prolongs ALL buffs on The Leech as long as she's hitting foes. That means that Greater Frenzy will be active until the end of an encounter, but also that the healing and defense bonuses of Stalwart Defiance never expire. Same goes for all buffs that The Leech receives from his friends (in my case Sheemer's Needler, a skaen priestess). At lvl 14, after Frenzy & Stalwart Defiance were cast and a potion of Llengrath's was drunk, all defenses were around 120. But the real trick that adds A LOT of tankyness is the Ring of Unshackling (or the preist spell or the ability of the paladin): You can cast this on The Leech when combat starts and before she gets afflicted by anything. She will then walk into the fray and prolong the suppression of afflictions forever. She will get hit by them eventually because 120 defense is no guarantee to be spared, but you won't notice until the fight is over. There are some afflictions that don't get suppressed, so you want to make sure that her defenses are high. The worst thing that can happen is that The Leecher gets knocked down or paralyzed at the beginning of a fight when the durations of her buffs have not been prolonged yet. However, that happenend only once in my playthrough because I didn't prebuff her correctly. The damage of Spelltongue is rather low - but with Vulnerable Attack it's ok against low to mid DR foes. Because of 22 DEX and Frenzy's +33% attack speed (remember - that lasts forever) you hit very fast and that's important because you want to siphon as fast as possible to stack durations. Recovery bar shows up, but just for a fraction of a second. You will interrupt a lot, but these are rather short. Anyway, it helps. The damage of Spelltongue was ok for me - but if you want more DPS you can easily skip Vulnerable Attack, take Quick Switch and use the Grey Sleeper or St. Ydwen's Redeemer in your second weapon slot. When your buff durations got extended, switch to the two hander and deal some good damage to the mob - then switch back to further extend the buffs. Works like a chram but requires some micro - so I didn't do that. As I said: Spelltongue's damage was enough for me. Your next question might be: "But the low PER! How on earth will you hit something on PoTD?" Good question - I also wasn't sure if this is the right strategy, but it turned out that this really wasn't a problem at all. First of all: Spelltongue has Accuracy 1 - as all rapiers have. That compensates for the low PER and is enough for the common mob. Then there are some nice priest buffs and consumables like potion of Eldrith Aim and Scroll of Valor and so on. Sine they never expire in a fight, I'm more willing to use them. Against tough enemies these things give enough bonus to land a lot of hits/crits without the need of having maxed PER. I just took this build and solo'ed the Nalrend bounty in order to really test the tankyness. By the way I always choose this bounty quest because it's a pain in the a**. All this Plagues of Insects and the knockdowns can put you down real fast if you're too squishy. If you can solo it then you're good I say. So - she killed the horde on her own and had 100% endurance and 50% health left. I call that a win. Works even better (let'S say extremely well) with a priest as you might guess. With a fortitude debuff of more than 40 points and brute force crits start to fly around a lot (siphoning even more time and doing more dps). Oooph... now I'm tired... have fun!

"Stalking" Sebastian. 🤣 Explanation: I was curious what npc's do so I followed a string of students after one class, who all walked to my next main quest class. I did that class, and then followed Sebastian around like glue. It was actually kind of impressive - the AI would put him in this pattern of walk up and down floors, sit, and either do idle stuff or converse with some NPCs, repeat, all over the castle. When it became night I expected him to walk to his Common Room and disappear into a wall or something (most students/npcs disappear at night so no one for the AI to "talk" to), but instead he wandered in the gardens and castle until morning. Probably didn't feel safe going to sleep when some weirdo was following him. LOL. I now want to follow all the main students, see if they have different walking routines.