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The color palette in DA:O was less saturated. I think that's what people mean when they say it was dark fantasy.

It is the darkspawn brood mother encounter in the deep roads that was a lot darker than anything BioWare had done. Most other "dark" bits were not that tone setting. Yes there was racism, yes the mages were a copy of WH40K psykers under the constant threat of demonic possession. But the cringe dopey romance kept dragging you right back out of the darkness. Only in that one section was the atmosphere not broken by Liliana wanting to shop for shoes or Alistair licking lampposts.

Youtube, or internet in general, is full of content where people trash games or developers because that generates easy clicks. Seems like the only options are love or hate, with nothing in between. So I'm all up for reviews where there conclusion is "it's kinda ok". And that seems to be the case with Mort mostly, which is why I was surprised he praised Veilguard so much.

I skipped Anthem no problem, this one also looks skippable. Especially with scathingly dismissive reviews like this: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/with-the-veilguard-dragon-age-has-forgotten-its-dark-fantasy-roots-and-become-biowares-avengers/

I am progressing well with sorting the apartment. Moving is always strange. More so when you change everything. I closed the smallest hotel in Athens. I am out of tourism. Tourism turns you into a racist. Unless you only have Australian guests - Australians are cool. Clumsy and loud perhaps, but fun and friendly and happy to be here. So I have moved into one apartment myself and it is such a strange experience to be here and not be in stress to get things ready for check in. I took down the sign from the entrance and am having a new one printed with just my art and no text.

Hi, maybe I've discovered a bug and a potential cheese. I went in the Oratory of Wael, didn't start the fight with enchanted armors and "rays machine", went back in Temple of Relevation, came back in the Oratory... and the machine didn't start, no enchante armors to fight... immediately scene with archmage and then also no combat qith infested Maura! (I took the Enclosures section first). I'd should retry to be sure of how prevent this encounter, but I think I have no near saves for it... but if someone has experimented this let us know or I'll have to try in a future run

Guess the guy who came up with the "push button, awesome things happen" still works at Bioware.

Guess you guys will just have to wait for Veilguard: The Snyder Cut.

I didn't watch this or the DA review, I just know about Mort from the Owlcat Pathfinder games where he'd do relatively in depth videos about content as released. Tbh I rarely watch videos about games beyond skimming for specific content. Anyways, I've done a playthrough of BG3 and DAV just doesn't look nearly as interesting nor does it really want to make me give it a chance to just enjoy the story. If I wanted to sit back and watch braindead action stuff I'd just bite the bullet and put on a cape**** movie or shonen anime. BG3 does a good job of making the most of a janky pnp system and also does quite a lot of out of combat gameplay that is very memorable. Something I'll never forget is failing to intimidate the owlbear and getting attacked by it, in the moment it reminded me of something from Disco Elysium. In contrast, DAV looks like repetitive combat spaced in corridors that is occasionally broken by "epic" cutscenes or very simple puzzles.

When Origins came out it was a much darker, morally grey fantasy setting - up to that point Bioware games dealt in very contrasting and simplistic saint vs devil options. And I think there were bits of Origins that delivered on the promise, but overall I am with you - outside endgy venieer it was still mostly a straightforward fantasy world. Each sequel seemed to me to move further away from the bits that I liked the most about Origins. Veilguard seems to continue in that direction.

The "content creator/influencers" - whether they purposely mean to/want to or not, often tend to foster/encourage a contentious, black and white sides audience/environment. And yes not just with gaming/YT. It's an internet culture thing or something. Did you guys see that jacksepticeye Help video? It's main aim was a mental-health fundraiser thing, but the intro first 2-3 minutes was like...yeah...that's the internet now (or at least how it often feels). "it's just people throwing rocks all the time."

The reviews are so all over the place: Eurogamer: "This is the best Dragon Age, and perhaps BioWare, has ever been." https://www.eurogamer.net/dragon-age-the-veilguard-review Matty echoes a lot of the same woes as Skillup (and PCgamer from what I have glanced): It seems to me that for people who liked Bioware's pre-Anthem output and wished for a "comeback" it's a big miss. Everyone seems to agree though, that the final couple hours are pretty darn good.

Troubadour is the best pick for a support Chanter. With only 20 INT you can have 100% overlap of two chants (like Ancient Memory + Mercy and Kindness) or switch to invocation mode (Brisk Recitation) if you feel you need that - or for a lot of Many Lives skeletons. Livegiver/Troubadour is a good healer, especially once you combine Mercy and Kindness with the Druid's healing spells such as Moonwell etc. +7 Power level while shifted (or +4 not shifted with Spine of Thicket Green or Xoti's Lantern) in combination with Physiker's Belt and Practiced Healer has a massive impact on the potency of healing. Normally Druid summons aren't that great, but the Ancient's Sporelings are very good. In combination with Wild Growth (Robust inspiration on the Sporelings as long as they exist, no duration) they become excellent. Their duration scales very well because it has a rather long base and it's only PL1. An Ancient/Chanter can also put Wild Growth on other summons like drakes, oozes or the bigger spores. If you have a brilliant priest in the party you can prolong the summons' duration with Salvation of Time, too. Theoretically you can create endless summons who are Robust forever. --- IF one has a summon-heavy party then also a SC Kind Wayfarer is a great spot- and AoE healer with potentially unlimited Zeal in the late game (if summons die he gets +2 Zeal from Divine Retribution). He can use White Flames + Divine Immolation endlessly. The White Flames heal his self damage easily while Divine Immolation AND White Flames heal his surroundings big time. Cherry on top: deals great damage that way, too. Perfect if your backline gets swarmed. I love this guy with dual pistols. Imo it's the best weapon pick for such a specialized Kind Wayfarer. Very fast White Flames, good range, cancelable reloading (great reactivity) great unique pieces. If you want to profit from Divine Retribution twice per summon you can kill skeletons yourself with Grave Calling (turning then into imps) or any summon with Essence Interrupter (turning into whatever). When the skeleton/first summon dies: Paladin +2 Zeal. When the imp/other summon dies: again +2 Zeal. But that usually isn't necessary if you use Many Lives and/or Ancient Brittle Bones because you'll have more Zeal that you can spend.

Troubadour is the best subclass for chanter, -50% phrase duration makes invocation casted pretty earlier. A tank/damage dealer chanter could be a Skald, but it is not your case. If you don't wanna experiment anything, go for Troubadour. I'm playing a Ghost Heart now and Arcane Archer is totally another subclass, and mine is a MC but I think Stunning Shots is a great passive, and you could play around Distraction Training and Vengeful Grief a little maybe. For actives ones, Shadowed Hunters can be used somehow almost as cheese, and other can be managed to build interesting characters, such as Whirling Strikes and Bonded Fury. Others are interesting but too much expensive and choosing lesser level abilities is better. But a SC Arcan Archer has also the advantage to cast imbue with large power level, it is very good. I should be curious how a imbue: death ring spell can be with great ranger accuracy and so many power levels

Greetings Watchers! Patch 1.3.8.0.87471 is available to all who opt in on the Public Beta Branch. To opt in to this current update, use the Public Beta branch in Steam. In your Steam Library Right click on Pillars of Eternity, and select "Properties" Select the "Beta" Tab, and click the Drop Down for labeled "NONE" - Select "public_beta" Close the Window, and you should have a download ready. Attempting to play the game should automatically trigger the download. -- Patch Notes-- General: GOG achievements now unlock properly. Steam/GOG Kickstarter and Backer reward items should once again be granted properly to new players. Steam Linux is now supported and will be included in future patches. Epic Game Store users will now properly receive their Royal Edition digital content rewards. Game saves are now listed with priority given to the most recent, regardless of the method used to create them (Quicksave, Autosave, or manual). Visual and Audio: Fixed an issue that prevented character selection barks from playing in certain cases. (Eder has once again found his voice) Grimoires will now correctly hide while reading scrolls. Certain cutscenes and maps will now perform better in 4k. Fixed a remaining edge case that would cause characters to t-pose in very specific cutscenes. Fixed a number of dialogue nodes that would trigger a brief "knock" sound when displayed. Removed unintended echo effects on act introduction audio and developer commentary. Ferry boat in Oldsong is no longer partially submerged. Several variant forms of Woodskin have had their VFX aligned correctly. (Spell Holding, Spell Bind, Adragan & Delemgan variants, etc...) Delemgans, Adragan, Pwgra, and Menpwgra have had missing visual and audio effects updated on many of their spells and abilities. Characters that are immune to poison won't bark about being poisoned when attacked by poisonous attacks. All animal companions will now play footstep audio. Hiravias' Spiritshift FX will now properly play when he leaves spiritshift form. Taena's centec VO will now play correctly in both contexts that it can be heard. Quests and Dialogue: Fixed softlock when hiring Aldwyn and using his services at Brighthallow. Fixed softlock when using Aldwyn's services in the Salty Mast after hiring Lyrinia. Obtaining a quest reward from Simoc in the Sacrifical Bloodlines quest and then killing him will no longer result in a second copy of the reward item on his corpse. After being awarded Alia Braccia in Hearthsong killing the High Monk afterwards will no longer grant a second instance of the reward. Killing Ranga before the potion is acquired will now correcly fail A Mother's Plea. You are no longer able to mention Leaden Key during the Forgotten Army Quest finale if it hasn't been priorly discussed with Aloth. Abrecan will now still accept the letter he sends you to retrieve, even if you already possess it when he first tells you about his request. Krivi's rewards in Od Nua cannot be obtained multiple times by selecting similar dialogue nodes. Now only one outcome is permitted. Anamfath Leader in Twin Elms will continue The Child of Five Suns quest even in the case of Vincent Agosti being dead after being spoken to prior. Failing the Athletics and Dexterity checks in the Durgan's Battery scripted interaction will now properly apply the Concussion affliction. Accepting Tealdor's Bounty relating to the Disciples of the True Flame and leaving the conversation will not prevent players from asking later on about the Bounty for Laenric. Giving Dunstan the final pieces of the Blade of the Endless Paths while he is defending the keep will now correctly reward the player. Accusing Grynde of being a ripple sponge addict for reward can no longer be repeated infinitely. What happens to the ogre Crothar no longer affects Korgrak's quest states. Combat and Mechanics: Fixed a case where the Shadow Step ability could cause a crash. Shadow Step ability is no longer treated as a modal and can now target ground locations. Spellsword Wizard AI will properly activate Second Wind instead of Deleterious Alacrity of Motion when low on Endurance. Party AI will no longer attempt to activate Second Wind in cases where their Endurance is low, but also capped due to low Health. Party AI will no longer select charmed or confused allies as targets for their hostile abilities. As in PoE2, Party AI that are commanded by the player to move to a location will not attempt to move from that location for a brief period. (They will still attack during that time if possible). Trap Accuracy no longer counts the accuracy modifier on the trap's attack twice in its calculation. Fixed an issue that prevented Constant Recovery from scaling in the same way that Veteran's Recovery does. (Constant Recovery is now superior to Veteran's Recovery at all levels, as expected). Ryona's Buckle's Tenacity Accuracy bonus will now properly activate and deactivate based on the wearer's current Endurance (vs. Only checking endurance at the time the belt was equipped). Iron Circle's Adamant damage reduction now properly deactivates when the wearer rises back above 26% Endurance. Killing Bolt traps now target Fortitude, matching its spell counterpart. Killing Bolt traps no longer mention slash damage in their description. Chain Lightning Traps in Breith Eaman now properly deal damage if they strike a character. Binding and severing Abydon's Hammer will no longer permanently increase the user's Might attribute. The Lady's Hand has had its effects reworked to use a trigger that can be better seen on the character sheet when active. The Black Sanctuary shield will now properly apply its endurance recovery effect when casting Withdraw. Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer will no longer cause traps to recursively trigger their effects. Elryn's Jacket Eyestrike effect (and similar events that respond to hostile actions) no longer trigger from beneficial "attacks". Powder Burns modal (and similar effects) no longer harms allies located in the AoE's bonus area from intellect. Fulvano's Blunderbuss Spellchance: Charm can now properly trigger and charm targets. Knock Down will now respect suppression when trying to determine if there's an active knocked down status effect preventing stand up. Enemies can no longer move around while being proned by Concelhaut's Crushing Doom. Izali's Boon stealth skill bonus now correctly clears after a rest. Scroll of Minoletta's Bounding Missiles now uses the correct spell description. Scroll of Boiling Spray range now matches its spell counterpart. Scrolls of Restore Endurance have had their range increased to match their spell counterparts. Hirelings from the Salty Mast will continue to provide their boons when using their services at the player's stronghold. Skyward Kick no longer triggers a vertical launch when it would miss with additional effects. Skyward Kick will no longer cause targets to remain prone permanently. Players affected by multiple Unconscious effects will no longer be able to move around while Unconscious. (Similar cases with other effects should also be fixed). User Interface and Interaction: Weapons can now be equipped to the first weapon set by double-clicking them in the inventory. Right-clicking on a creature will now display its bestiary entry (if it has one). Fixed some cases where the Retrain Character UI might show white portraits. Best of damage type icons now display correctly in the character sheet UI. Fixed a case where Burial Isle visions might prevent the user from canceling actions. Containers that aren't associated with a major faction, but will trigger an attack response from interaction, will now appropriately display the stealing cursor. Trapped chest in the Abbot's Quarter's during the Rising Tide quest can now be looted correctly after being disarmed. Pickables and similar interactions can no longer be looted multiple times using queue'd actions. Removed erroneous description from Guardian Spirit ability on Ancestor Pendant. Setting an invalid name after reaching the end of character creation will no longer allow you to finalize character creation. Character Creation attribute totals only display culture bonuses after the culture screen is reached. Localization: Several Talents that were missing localized text in various languages have been localized. Known Issues: v1.3.8.0.87471 is currently unavailable for OSX (We hope to include OSX in an update to this patch cycle before it goes live). We are still investigating the issue where in very rare cases the spell cursor might display the incorrect icon. A change included in this patch should make this occur far less frequently, but the core issue seems to be Unity related. We'll continue to seek alternative solutions in a future update.

Great job with the fixes, you’re the best. Continuing to show love to this game is priceless for me. Thank you for keeping up with these improvements; I’ll start a new game to test everything thoroughly, this deserves it. (づ￣ 3￣)づ

@melkathi good luck.

I expect any forumite we chat here to let me know if they come to Athens. Who knows, maybe I'll be so rich by then, I'll even have a spare bedroom Thank you, I need it. Going to launch the forkcat brand for real now. Even hiring a marketing/fashion/branding consultant with fancy hairdo (if you are reading this: Γειά! Θα σε παρω τηλέφωνο αύριο!*) Selling the apartment I was living in the past 8 years. Standing to almost double my money because I bought it dead cheap. That will give me a secure cushion to concentrate on starting something new for a couple of years without having to stress. So feeling super excited and stressed and a bit of trepidation. But if it works out it will be awesome. Maybe it is midlife crisis, but I feel very privileged to be able to try to do completely my own thing. * translation: Hi! I'll call you tomorrow!

Aw, I was also hoping to one day book a room

Me as well. Maybe by that time I will have forced myself through inquisition.

Damn, I was going to book your hotel when I retire in 15 years and finally get to travel the world.

Same with me.

Find me some LGBTQ+ or feminist beer and I'll buy it even though I am teetotal. But me buying it has to annoy the right people. Then it is money well spend

So because of some youtuber you wasted money that would have bought you lots and lots of beer on something you don't need or want?

Did Bioware turn everyone into transsexuals again? I mean that clearly was what made Inquisition bad. Male skull shapes on female characters. You know what's hilarious though? Angry orange haired pick-me girls and blue haired anime character channels complaining about Veilguard make me want to preorder the Deluxe Edition. On the EA app. *clicks* And done! Probably not even going to play it. *snort*

Yeah, it's one of the things that show why the D&D licence was to the overall detriment of the game instead of a benefit. Still really liked it regardless, but very glad they're done with the series.

https://bsky.app/profile/sonic.bsky.social/post/3l7lkwmn6ks2t Kamala Harris' campaign has set up an island in Fortnite, another foray into the gaming space for Democrats. Trump's campaign also has an in-game presence as the antagonists in the classic franchise "Wolfenstein"

I do not want to turn this into political debate, but since 2022, there is really not much nice, that Ukrainian can say about Amnesty International, due to some of their reports about the war, which were really “sloppy” there has been a lot of debate about these reports in Way Off-Topic threads during that time as well.

Steelrising The game can look beautiful. The seat is unusable and I do not believe that it existed. The game at least tries to do social commentary (looking up the historical figures, though, does not increase the enjoyment). This door required me to progress the main quest. I was not able to break or anyhow unlock it myself. The NPCs are sitting in one spot and picking all the side quests together, then reporting back together led to this picture. The thing I really like is that the enemies' attacks hurt them as well. All NPC share the same pool of facial animations and sometimes they look rather odd. It was not sarcastic. The end-game map. The last area. Since none are exactly original, no spoiler tags for it. What did that meatbag do with the face? The final boss.

They are frost / shock / elemental attacks, so no penalties

Imbue: Death with Watershaper's Focus (Ondra's Wrath) or Fire in the Hole (Chain Shot) + Driving Flight is pretty epic. Ultra high ACC also for the Death Rings with maxed Arcana. 3 procs of Death Ring and also the chance to proc Ondra's Wrath (WS's Focus) in combo with the weapons' own AoE. And also: everything there's foe-only which is very nice. For non-imbue shots I would switch to either Essence Interrupter or Frostseeker (no ACC penalty for Arcane Archer). Or Spearcaster (gains way more ACC from Arcana than you lose by the Arcane Archer penalty).

Huh. 10-20% performance gains in gaming using CU-DIMM DDR5 and not changing anything else. Also probably some e-core task scheduling issues at work here and there, with another couple % added by a e-core and cache overclock (which makes a lot of sense when the e-cores are working on game threads, as the e-cores have comparatively little L2 cache per core, sharing 4MB per cluster of 4). Except for Horizon Zero Dawn, that game has always been really rough on both Intel and nVidia hardware. That might also point towards why some German YouTube channels that I have watched, including der8auer's, showed so drastically different gaming performance (especially in Cyberpunk) from GN or HUB and Jay's. der8auer used CU-DIMMs for his testing. Still doesn't make Arrow Lake interesting, but it does show that Intel is having some teething issues with the new platform and their new tile designs. That is a rough launch, and for optimal performance you need different memory kits that are currently at a premium, and it makes little sense. Using CU-DIMMs shouldn't even make that much of a difference. Sure, they theoretically allow for higher memory bandwidth, but really, such a drastic performance increase with everything else equal? Something's wrong here. And since Jay also mentions it, the 9000X3D CPUs are going to top the charts soon anyway. Given his remarks I suspect the rumors are true and AMD actually really doubled the amount of cache for the 9900X3D and 9950X3D by slapping it on both CCDs. Otherwise, given the otherwise small performance gain of Zen 4 over Zen 5, his insinuations make no sense, unless the regular Zen 5 CPUs have a severe bottleneck and the 9800X3D also shows massive performance gains by simply having more cache to work with. Well, the specs say there's less of clock speed regression on the 9800X3D compared to the 9700X than there was between the 7800X3D and the 7700X, but that should not be enough to make all these charts look small.

Teri Garr

even 5 percent of project 2025 will change the world forever great depression drag half of the world down with it this time global economy are far more connected effect will be felt anywhere someone can buy canned food

Skill up isn't a fan. Curious what Mort will have to say. To me the question isn't "is Veilguard good or bad". To me it's "how bad is it when compared to Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition".