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They actually teach you how to pet the cat/monkey companion:

Sure They do No, they do raw damage which bypasses armor completely. What would they need penetration for? This means they can never underpenetrate (which is a serious damage malus) but they also cannot overpeneterate (which is "only" a 30% additive dmg bonus - underpenetration is much more severe since it's multiplicative). Nothing in regard to the damage type. Animancer's Blade can only be enchanted with quality though (no special enchantments besides the starting ones). Eccea's Arcane Blaster can get additonal elemental damage - but it doesn't change the raw dmg type of the iitial shot - it's just an addon of elemental dmg on top of that raw dmg. The other enchantments also don't do anything to the damage type. Classes or class combos with bad to mediocre weapon penetration - if you play Path of the Damned. On the lower difficulties it doesn't matter that much because the armor of enemies is weaker. Besides that they are not most suitable for a special class but rather great against special enemies with very high armor. Animancer's Blade has lower base damage than a regular sabre but is faster so the overall dps is comparable to a normal sabre - but the lack of further enchantments make it an inferior pick against enemies with normal to low armor - I mean compared to other unique sabres. Eccea's Arcane Blaster is a great pistol for any pistolero build because its enchantments are great (except "Bullet Time" which doesn't work properly, so don't pick that). I used it with good success on several characters, among them a single class Kind Wayfarer (together with Scrodeo's Trophy), a Wizard/Ranger (also together with Scordeo's Trophy), a Beguiler/Sharpshooter (single handed with the modal and One handed style), SC Priest (Xoti, more than once) and more (I cannot remember all of them). Watch out - if you use a Rogue then know that there's a problem with Deep Wounds: it requires a weapon with pierce, slash or crush damage to get triggered. Both weapons don't deal that type of damage but raw damage. Deep Wounds doesn't recognize raw damage so would be completely wasted if you mainly used on one of those weapons. So I'd say just spare that ability point and take something else. Instead of or in addition to using those weapons you can also use abiities that deal raw damage. Like the Rogue's Arterial Strike, Gouging Strike and Ring the Bell. If you combine all three of those on a Steelclad construct for example it will die very quickly. Or you can use a Druid with Swarm of Insects + Infestation of Maggots and stuff like that. But something like Eccea's Arcane Blaster is indeed great against that sort of enemies. Animancer's Blade comes pretty late so I wouldn't plan a whole character build around it. But one can make a beeline for the Blaster and the fight where you cn loot it from also isn't difficult because it's just one mid-level wizard you have to take out (and you can start the fight from stealth).

Russia has finally hinted at its peace conditions. Besides accepting de facto territorial changes Ukrainian 'neutrality' is expected. What is new that in now means no EU integration as well as no NATO. Ukraine responded with equally maximalist demands.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) - It was a rather enjoyable adventure movie. It would have benefited from Jeremy Irons voraciously devouring the scenery, but beyond that, I have no complaints. Good looking movie, well cast, well acted, and, most importantly, fun. My favorite part was the comically obese dragon, that was awesome. I had a giant goofy smile on my face for that entire scene. There will certainly be a sequel, because standalone movies are no longer a thing, not for big budget movies, anyway, but the DDCU (Dungeons & Dragons Cinematic Universe) is off to a good start. Thumbs up. Watch the movie if you haven't already.

Gran Turismo 7. Look at these beautiful machines!

That's gracious of them, but I've got extensive hands-on experience with petting the monkey.

Animancer's Energy Blade is top tier against certain enemies. Since it does raw it is never resisted by anyone nor is anyone immune. And versus enemies with very high pierce/slash resistance like say Dorudugan, or any of the dragons, a regular sabre user is going to struggle to do much damage unless they crit most hits (crit gives a +50% penenetration). Against regular enemies where you would penetrate most hits a regular sabre will do more damage, but the universality of animancer's energy blade is extremely useful. Same idea with Eccea's Arcane Blaster though I haven't used it as much. You can enchant both up to mythic. What changes is the weapons gain bonus damage and accuracy. With the blaster the imbued ammunition gains penetration since it does crush/corrode, and also you can add certain effects like interrupt/knockback chance and chance for bullets to split. They're both mid to late game items though so you might think about importing them from another run if you want to use them the whole game. Just put the weapons on a character and go to export tab on the character sheet, then export. Then in another run you can import the adventurer at an inn and take the weapons. It can be very expensive if you give him too many items so I'd just give him the energy blade and the blaster. Or if you don't mind disabling achievements you can just add the weapons via console. As Boeroer has indicated the builds that would benefit the most from these weapons specifically are ones with mediocre penetration and accuracy. When you do raw damage penetration is meaningless, and accuracy is not as important since crits don't affect penetration of raw damage. Classes with high penetration: devoted, berserker, cipher, monk (with fists anyway). Classes with high accuracy: rangers, ciphers, sometimes monks (if you can maintain enduring dance), and priests, fighters with conqueror stance and disciplined barrage. Also a spellcaster class probably wouldn't need the sabre since they have spells, unless you built the class to be a martial caster like a wizard, who has many defensive buffs. So...I'm thinking the classes that would benefit the most would be regular barbarians, rogues, paladins, monks, and maybe chanters and wizards. There are some interesting multiclass combinations there. A barbarian/rogue would be interesting thematically with the sabre if you take blood frenzy and blood storm, since you will do a lot of raw damage. Barbarian / streetfighter in particular would wreck things meleeing. If you want to use the blaster more then a SC paladin could be pretty strong in the right party, particularly a kind wayfarer since you can spam flames of devotion and heal allies with white flames, and at higher levels will gain back paladin resources whenever allies die (including summons from a chanter). Holy slayer (pal/rogue) is also interesting, particularly steel garrote, since it is easy for a melee character to trigger the healing passive. Bleak Walkers could work as well since persistent distraction + flames of devotion gives two afflictions and triggers deathblows. For rogue half if it's a melee character I'd be tempted to do streetfighter since it is easy to get flanked, but trickster has some nice defensive buffs. A blood mage / rogue using wizard side for defensive buffs and occasional debuffs to trigger deathblows could also be good. I must note it's kind of weird to think about building a character this way, since normally I try to maximize accuracy and penetration, but they are just not as relevant here. Accuracy is still good, just not as essential, but penetration does nothing. Still the only classes where high penetration comes with large tradeoffs are berserker and devoted, so really I think you'd be fine with anything else... I could give better feedback if you provided your other party members, what difficulty you're playing on, and the envisioned role for the character (DPS melee, ranged, melee/ranged hybrid, caster/melee hybrid, etc.?)

Alone in the Dark Prologue

Probably still unconfirmed but looks extremely interesting. I suppose a lot of people remember the recent attempted uprisings in Belarus, and the way they were crushed. I would like to have more hope for the people of Belarus than I currently do, and I would love to be proven wrong in my lack of it.

So I installed a new birdhouse in one of the backyard trees. Its made of cedar so it should resist rot and it has three separate rooms to accommodate up to three separate nests. Now I wait.

TL;DR: The performance difference between a 3060 Ti and a 4060 Ti goes away completely if used with PCIE 3.0. Hilarious.

Didn't they just announced that the counter attack has already started? And then russia comes around the corner with yet another peace offer. To me this just feels like they are trying to stall them.

Done Mafia 3, the bounty missions were boring but that's done. Now free to do nothing until D4, I guess. Or maybe something productive

I do. Watched the entire run of the new Outer Limits series. Loved it for the most part - also had the best arc welding clip show episodes in the history of arc welding clip show episodes. That ending episode of season one was just an absolute banger.

Pored over my account and realized that I managed to spend a stupid amount on eating out and having food delivered this month. Eh, a little indulgence every now and then isn't going to kill me. Edit: No update on the car situation yet. Insurance companies aren't the quickest and all, especially when it comes to payouts. Nothing new there.

Damn...

Milestone number 5 May 27, 16:30 – Today, after 1 and half year long break from the game, I have finally decided to finish off the requisites for Torpedo Buster achievement in GOG copy of Rebel Galaxy, which was the last missing achievement to 100% the game. It took me only about half hour to shoot down last 180 torpedoes, so I am now kind of wondering, why I have not finished it long time ago .

some just assume that is video game jank npc doesn't move at all unless quest demand it and they can disappear into wall when they walk away

the fact that they have 'them' argue in front of you the second time you meet her and it's literally just the same voice back to back arguing against itself and then jeanette 'disappears' in a room without any other entrances/exits besides the one you're already standing in surely does not help conceal the mystery a lot of the voiced dialogue is...I mean, quite clumsy and ungood (that introductory cutscene was a real "holy crap, just what am I playing here" moment), but in such a way that is now largely amusing and charming to me, so I think I've come to terms with it and it's fine

And there are at least some good outcomes of the Russian war against Ukraine. Armenia and Azerbaijan have recognized their borders.

Boltgun

This but unironically. More people should watch stuff made by weirdos who may be unwell.

Twilight of the Cockroaches (1987). Naomi was nineteen in cockroach years, just coming into the prime of her life. RIP. Okay, real talk, this is an hour and 45 minute-long live-action/anime hybrid made by Madhouse of all people. The quality of the film is like...someone made a recording from a LaserDisc onto a VHS and then made a recording from that onto a DVD, and I'm watching straight from the full DVD (hence the small pillarboxes in the .gif). Half of the time, I can't really make out what I'm looking at too well. Don't upset the rabbit. The film is kind of like...umm, actually, not quite like anything I've really ever seen before. Basically, Naomi lives in a cockroach colony inside a guy's apartment who is cool with them living there. Previously, they had been in a constant state of war with the previous occupant of the apartment who the cockroaches had successfully driven out, so it has been a grand three years of peace and prosperity. When a cockroach from a different 'war zone' arrives, he is a welcome reminder to the colony of what life at war is like, and they celebrate their good fortune and promise to always be neat and friendly neighbors - love begets love and all that. After a brief respite, the outsider must return home...and Naomi suddenly feels compelled to follow him into the outside world. What she sees out there...is not pretty. Technically, I started this a couple of years ago...and maybe three other times between then and now, and I kept getting like a minute in and going "what the hell is this and why do I have it...man, I can't deal with this right now, maybe some other time". Anyways, it's basically A Bug's Life, except not really even a tiny bit at all like A Bug's Life. Highly recommended to everyone - this is clearly a film that will have general and universal appeal, as the above images demonstrate. Actually, I kind of feel like I didn't take enough images/gifs: I ain't never seen anything quite like this before, and I suspect I never will again...and I'm thinking nobody here ever will either, .

Cross post to keep things in their own threads, from: Heads up, because I just checked the specs, the RX 7600 is no better in that regard. It also only uses 8 PCIE 4.0 lanes. Score one for cards that were supposed to be mid-range upgrade paths for older computers. As if anyone needed another reason to just get a cheaper 6650 XT instead, or spend a bit more on a 6700 (XT) to have a card that'll last a bit longer. Eh, perhaps you should really look at an ARC card if you have ReBAR support.

Kissinger 100 years old today In case you were wondering if there really is a God