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Some eastern european indie have released a trailer for their upcoming RPG. Guess it might be of some interest? (Ciri --> meh. Though it being Witcher 4 always made that choice more likely)

Looks like they got more money behind it now. Maybe it's easier to get funding after BG3? https://store.steampowered.com/app/2975950/Solasta_II/

Nobody did until Constentine came along. It's def. not intended and pretty cheesy, yes. But the fun kind!

Ah well, I did make a short gif. Check it out: first I cast Tanglefoot on the dummies and then Avenging Storm. Without doing anything else the Avenging Storms kill the dummies. Add more pulsing spells and especially Great Meastrom and they will die in seconds:

Here's the trailer for Solasta II. I'm stoked for this game

If Gorth moves to Athens, I'll have to scout for places for lunch.

This build was created for a collaboration with @Aestus who runs the Youtube channel Aestus_RPG. This is build 2 of 3 from that collaboration. A link to the published videa will follow once it's out. ----------------------------------------- This build is mainly meant for inspiration. You don't need to follow it in detail to have fun. If you understand the key features - the basic idea what makes this build special - you can usually deviate from non-core attribute-, skill-, gear- and ability selection and form the build to your own likings and ideas. ----------------------------------------- n the Living Lands, there exists a Druid named Rhuar - a rugged, rather ugly man with a deep connection to the natural world. Born in a small, secluded village on the fringes of a vast forest, Rhuar spent his youth learning the ways of both nature and martial combat. His affinity for the land and its tasty bugs was nurtured by the village's ancient traditions, passed down through generations of Druids. Rhuar discovered his spiritshift ability early on - able to transform into a wild boar, a creature of strength and resilience, embodying the untamed power of the wilderness - aaand able to sniff all the tasty bugs! This transformation not only granted him unparalleled endurance and a welcome snack every now and then, but also the remarkable ability to regenerate, healing wounds with every blow he takes. As a boar, Rhuar is a force of (dirty) nature, charging through enemies with ferocity and amouthful of chitin. But even when not in his animal form, Rhuar remains a formidable fighter. His years of training in hand-to-hand combat have turned him into a skilled pugilist. With fists like iron, he strikes with precision, using his human form to deliver punishing blows that complement his druidic powers. Though Rhuar’s life is simple, it is not without turmoil: driven by an unyielding sense of duty to protect the natural world from encroaching dangers and the wish to dig up some squishy worms from time to time, he roams the land, seeking balance between the feral instincts of his wild boar form and the wisdom of his human heart. Whether in battle or in peace, Rhuar is a guardian of nature a warrior with the soul of a beast and a tummy full of tasty bugs. =================================== The Vigorous Warthog =================================== Difficulty: PotD -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Druid -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Human (or Aumaua, Dwarf, Nature Godlike) -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: The Living Lands - Colonist -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats: MIG: 20 (+1 Living Lands) CON: 14 DEX: 12 PER: 12 INT: 16 RES: 04 -------------------------------------------------------------- Skills: Survival 12, Athletics 9 -------------------------------------------------------------- Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important) 2: Wildstrike Shock (!)(or whatever element you like) 4: Novice's Suffering(!) 6: Veteran's Recovery(!) 8: Weapon Focus Peasant(r) 10: Greater Wildstrike Shock(r) 12: Two-Weapon-Style(r) 14: Outlander's Frenzy 16: Heart of the Storm Abilities 9: Spell Mastery: Nature's Vigor 11: Spell Mastery: Taste of the Hunt 13: Spell Mastery: Nature's Balm 15: Spell Mastery: Form of the Delemgan Story Talents: - Second Skin - Dungeon Delver - Song of the Heavens - Galawain's Boon (+1 MIG) - Gift from the Machine (+1 MIG) - Effigy's Resentment: Maneha (+1 MIG) --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (!=important, r=recommended): Weapon Set 1: fists (!)(Novice's Suffering) Weapon Set 2: two hatchets (r) Boots: Sandals of the Forgotten Friar (r) Head: Hermit's Hat Armor: Wayfarer's Hide/Sanguine Plate Neck: Mantle of the Dying Boar (obviously )/Fulvano's Amulet Belt: Wildstrike Belt® Rings: Pensiavi mes Rèi, Ring of Thorns Hands: Mourning Gloves/Gauntlets of Swift Action --------------------------------------------------------------- Hi again! Another late build for PoE - I was invited for a second interview by @Aestus again, this time for PoE. And since I talked about some PoE build ideas in the forum but never posted them, we thought this was a good opportunity to do so. The Vigorous Warthog is a Boar Druid - obviously. The Boar form grants two very good abilities while shifted: a wounding lash on your tusk weapons and also a constant regeneration effect similar to a Fighter's Constant Recovery. Speaking of Constant Recovery: the cross-class talent "Veteran's Recovery" does stack with the boar regeneration so we'll take it, too. We can build around those things and create a Druid who is surprisingly sturdy and at the same time does great melee damage while shifted, especially against enemies with thick armor. Wounding - as you might already know - scales with Might, and the healing you do does as well - so we have a double motivation to raise our Might high. This also helps all our spells that deal damage and heal us and others. We want to deal the majority of our melee damage when shifted - but Spiritshift is not endless and often enough we will shift back before the fight is over. For that we might need some fitting backup weapons. Best to use some who don't need a lot of mony and resources to be good, they are for backup only after all. Soulbound weapons come to mind or even a summoned weapon such as Firebrand: they scale without resources. Or - just hear me out - we use our fists. Novice's Suffering works in a weird way: it leaves your fists' base damage untouched but instead adds a rahter big flat damage bonus to them. Since most damage bonuses use the weapons' base damage as... well... base, adding damage bonuses to fists doesn't do much. But on the flipside damage maluses like grazes also don't influence the damage output much. The flat bonus however doesn't get influenced by anything - except Might! Yes, again Might - another reason to pump it. This leads to a set of backup weapons that does increbibly consistent damage, even if the wearer hasn't that much accuracy (like a Druid for example). And except the talent point they cost nothing. Later we add the Sandals of the Forgotten Friar. They add a second (small) flat dmg bonus to unarmed attacks and is also influenced by Might. Now we maxize it during character creation (Dwarf, Aumaua or Human for bonus Might - or even Nature Godlike for the chance to get stackable +3 MIG when under 50% endurance) and use a nice +MIG item (I chose a ring but it doesn't really matter). Outlander's Frenzy can give us another +3 MIG. But we can also use the Sanguine Plate for that: wait until you were hit by a crit and Frenzy procs, then spiritshift: the Frenzy will stay with you - and you spared a talent point. I picked the Wayfarer's Hide however - mostly because of the looks. Use the Blighthollow Resting in Caed Nua for +3 extra Might, it lasts for 3 rests in the wilderness. Make sure to pick up the Wildstrike Belt. What it does it pretty amazing (and obscured by its vague description): it will ad 10% to your Wildstrike damage it says. But what it really does: It adds +10% to your Wildstrike lash, raising it from 30% to 40%. But it also adds 10% to your Greater Wildstrike lash! Those two are separate lashes - and the latter one is only 15% which has to overcome enemies DR/4, too. Low lashes often get eaten up by enemies DR, so raiing this 15% lash to a 25% lash is great. Now your Wildstrike does +40% elemental lash damage and +25% elemental lash damage. No it's totally worth it to pick up one of the elemental damage talents like Heart of the Storm. It will raise both lashes, too: from 40% to 48% and from 25% to 30%. Now you do almost as much lash damage as physical tusk damage. And remember: wounding, buffed up by lots of MIG, comes on top! All Rogues who witness this go home crying and decide to attend Druid Evening School... Your Boar + Veteran's Regeneration is very good, too, allowing you to hang out at the front line after some levels. And you can always increase it with a powerful healing spell of course. The best apporach is to first cast some useful spells (Avenging Storm, Form of the Delemgan, Nature's Balm etc.) and only then rush into battle, swinging tusks left and right. And should Spieitshift end before the fight ends you can punch around with your meaty fists - or cast spells of course. Against crush-immune foes you can use a set of solid hatchets: they grant some deflection and deal slash damage - and they share the same weapon focus as fists. 99% of times you won't need them though. Since Novice's Suffering fists don't profit much from damage bonuses I skipped Savage Attack, Appr. Sneak Attack etc. and instead focused on Might, speed and lash improvement. Cheers and have fun!

This build was created for a collaboration with @Aestus who runs the Youtube channel Aestus_RPG. This is build 3 of 3 from that collaboration. A link to the published video will follow once it's out. ----------------------------------------- This build is mainly meant for inspiration. You don't need to follow it in detail to have fun. If you understand the key features - the basic idea what makes this build special - you can usually deviate from non-core attribute-, skill-, gear- and ability selection and form the build to your own likings and ideas. ----------------------------------------- uvan Thanleyr was born into the aristocratic family of Thanleyr in the Aedyr Empire. From an early age, Tuvan was groomed for a life of refinement and diplomacy, but his heart was never content in the stuffy halls of power. His true fascination lay in hidden treasures: ancient artifacts, forgotten relics, and the mysterious forces that imbued them with power. As a child, Tuvan spent more time exploring the family estate’s vaults and libraries than attending banquets and galas. Over time, he became enchanted by tales of long-lost magical items and the forbidden knowledge they contained. His quiet curiosity turned into obsession, and with the aid of discreet family contacts, he began to procure such artifacts. Rather than following the traditional path of diplomacy like his forefathers, Tuvan adopted the role of an independent collector, traveling across the empire and beyond in search of rare magical items. Using his sharp intellect and quick fingers, he became an adept rogue - able to navigate both the political intrigue of the noble courts and the more dangerous, shadowy world of thieves and tomb raiders. Tuvan's deep knowledge of enchanted items and his knack for discovering spellbindings allowed him to harness the power of these artifacts. By attuning himself to those spellbound items he was able to wield powerful magic that would have otherwise been beyond his reach. However, his life was not without conflict: while his noble lineage granted him privilege, it also drew the attention of powerful rivals who sought to claim his treasures. With enemies closing in from all sides, Tuvan fled his homeland and lost all he had collected. He dicided to venture into the Dyrwood, where Engwithan ruins promised new adventures and better loot, albeit more risk. Tuvan must rely on his wits, his agility and his growing collection of magical items to navigate the dangerous waters of the nobility, the shadowy underworld and the merciless tribes of the Glanfathans protecting those ruins... =================================== The Spellbinder =================================== Difficulty: PotD -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Rogue -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Wood Elf (or Island Aumaua for more weapon slots) -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: Aedyr - Aristocrat (just for the vibes) -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats: MIG: 12 CON: 08 DEX: 16 PER: 16 INT: 18 RES: 08 (+1 Aedyr) -------------------------------------------------------------- Skills: Mechanics 12, Survival 6 (use a +2 Survival item before camping to get the increased ACC against certain enemies) -------------------------------------------------------------- Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important) 2: Weapon Focus Ruffian 4: Vicious Fighting (r) 6: Arms Bearer (r) 8: Wilder Hunter 10: Primal Bane 12: Beast Slayer 14: Scion of Flame 16: Spirit of Decay Abilities 1: Crippling Strike 3: Dirty Fighting(r) 5: Deep Wounds 7: Coordinated Positioning 9: Escape 11: Deathblows (!) 13: Smoke Cloud 15: Shadow Step Story Talents: - Mob Justice (just because it fit the treasure hunter theme best) - Dungeon Delver - Song of the Heavens - Flick of the Wrist - Hylea's Boon --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (!=important, r=recommended): Weapon Set 1: Bittercut + Bittercut Weapon Set 2: Bleak Fang + Azureith's Stiletto Weapon Set 3: White Spire/Taluntain's Staff/Sabre of the Seas+Flames of Fair Rhian Boots: Animancer's Boots/Bilestompers/ Head: Munacra Arret/Ethereal Helm (toss away after charges are depleted) Armor: Sun-Touched Mail of Hyran Rath/White Crest Armor/Hunter's Mail Neck: Amulet of Summer Solstice/Nidhen's Finger/Cloak of Minor Missiles/Swaddling Sheet Belt: Coil of Resourcefulness Rings: Bartender's Ring/Ring or Searing Flames/Gwyn's Band of Union/Ring of Changing Heart/Sigil of the Arcane Hands: Rotfinger Gloves/Siegebreaker Gauntlets/Spirit Spiral --------------------------------------------------------------- Hallöchen, a final last build for PoE (I think) - I was invited for a second interview by @Aestus again, this time for PoE. And since I talked about some PoE build ideas in the forum but never posted them, we thought this was a good opportunity to do so. The Spellbinder is a variant of a build I posted years ago: the Sorcerer's Apprentice (see below). https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/86156-class-build-the-sorcerers-apprentice-twisted-sneaky-dps-scroll-user/ The reasons why damaging spells work well with Rogues are explaned there. In short: Deathblows works with damage from spells, too - giving your spells +100% damage. And of course the Rogue has good accuracy. But instead of using scrolls this Rogue is using spellbind gear to collect and cast a lot of per-rest spells. There are a lot of fitting items in the game, you can see a collection I mostly used above. I chose Wood Elf because of the Distant Advantage (also applies to ranged spells). And then I focused on the mobility aspect of the Rogue and left out the melee abilities - just to do something different. I also leaned into spell damage even more by using mostly abilites and talents which work with weapon AND spells (Scion of Flame, Beast Slayer, pick up the Bartender's Ring and so on - even Deep Wounds works with spells if they deal crush, pierce or slash damage). But you don't need to do that! It's also nice to build the usual melee Rogue with all sorts of Strikes and put the spellbinding on top. The core idea is using Deathblows with spells. However, I enjoyed the focus on mobility abilities of the Rogue a lot for a change. Very useful for perfect positioning for the optimal cast. I also threw some spellstriking (trigger a spell when you critically hit an enemy) and spellholding (trigger a spell when you get critically hit) into the mix. If you switch to Bleak Fang + Azureith's Stiletto or Sabre of the Seas while enemies are afflicted twice - and manage to crit one of them - the resulting AoE damage is extremely high. You have to force yourself to actually use the spells those items provide though. Don't make the mistake and try to spare them for the big encounter and then rest with lots of spell uses left untouched. At some point you'll have so many items in your inventory who have spells bound to them and are still full. If your currently equipped items are empty: just swap them with fresh ones. At some point only after lots of fights you will have to rest because of depleted spells. It's more likely that you'll have to rest because of low health than of low spells. And even then: you're still a full Rogue with great weapon damage, right? Especially with sabres like Bittercut you can always shine with great melee single target damage - even if your spells are gone. To me this way to play a Rogue is more fun than the traditonal single-target approach. And finally you get some more use out of those sepllbind items. This is may also be a nice theme build if you want to play a Spellblade in Deadfire and wondered what class to play in PoE first. This apporach also totally works with a Fighter btw. - the combination of Disciplined Barrage and high base ACC of the Fighter is great for using CC-spells from spellbinds. A Fighter lacks the Deathblow ability to turn damaging spells into real nukes, but his accuracy with Whisper of Treason etc. is unmatched. If you thought about playing a Battlemage in Deadfire, maybe a spellbind Fighter is nice to play in PoE first. I played Edér that way recently - and despite his low INT it worked very well. Cheers!

Is there any chance for Avowed to be available on GOG? Considering my previous experience when a patch significantly worsened the respective game (mostly, Pillars of Eternity II and the Blackwood Hull broken into logs to pad the playtime; to less extent, Tyranny and changing Tunon's reactions during the final trial), I would like to have more control over my purchase. Due to these flaws (and my lack of wisdom to request the code for GOG when I backed PoEII and patience to wait for the GOG version for The Outer Worlds), I have repurchased Obsidian games in the past, but the £60 price tag strongly discourages doing so now. On a related note, again, coming from the previous experience, when approximately the GOTY edition should be expected (so I know when the deadline to purchase without having to rollback the version)? EA recently managed to release an AAA action-RPG reasonably bug-free and content-complete (so no waiting for months or paying extra to get the full experience). I would like to believe that Obsidian can achieve the same feat, especially considering the higher price.

The 2002 OVA art style is...not completely horrible, but I find the character designs to be very off-putting and lizard people-like, which doesn't help with what already seems like creepy direction. The animation and background designs shown off in the outro in particular are really not all that bad on the whole except for that, especially for a random 1-episode OVA made in 2002 of a decades-dead show. Uh, kind of? Not necessarily how I wanted to leave the show off on, but I suppose it was easily the most memorable bit of that episode...

I'll check and refer to you @Boeroer. Anyway for Veteran's Maneuver hits must be NON-reflex but others attacks to cancel the effect, so if the moonwell scroll hit as non-reflex attacks, it can behave like avenging storm. Stay tuned

Yah, needing new pots is the issue with those and cost. Even the oven drawer in this one is flimsy sheet metal, sheesh. One of the marketing points on this was "Made in USA", pfft.

P.S.: It is not a criticism, I have read your "disclaimers", my alternatives are only "variations on the theme" You can build a "corrode" druid, but I'd change spiritshifts, stats and most of the equip, so Rhuar as he is, is more than welcomed P.P.S: and thank you SO MUCH to have built a DRUID for Aestus, I'm looking forward to hear you and watch the video, very special Christmas gift! Love you

Electric, regular old coil burners too. Management here dislikes glass tops, and I think our cast iron pots would probably break the glass top. The old one was having weird oven issues, set to 350 F but it only reached 300 F or so. And one burner was out of commission as well. Just how it goes I guess, maybe I just assume "heavier = more robust". Definitely displeased with the EnerGuide rating being higher, had hoped for efficiency gains - wasn't involved in picking the model

Wow! You explained it very good as usual, but videos is so impressive! I didn't connect Effort enchantment with this insane chain of events! Smells like cheese however Anyway, who cares?

Oh yeah! Munacra Arret is just OP. To turn half the pack on each other can be such a fun, especially those annoying assassins. And being available so early in game. And cool-looking also - that stylish monocle which leaves your hairstyle visible ))

That's looks... like more Outer Worlds that for sure. I am looking forward to hearing about the improvements to the combat and/or roleplaying systems, as while I liked OW1 it did feel too shallow for it's length already, so twice as much of Outer Worlds doesn't sound as enticing, even if it is prettier (aka. require pricier hardware to run).

The aim of youtube (or facebook/ other sm) isn't to give you content you like, it's to drive engagement which is a rather different thing. It may not work on you personally, but it works in general and on a lot of people, and outrage bait drives engagement massively which results in the vicious circle of more of it being made. As for the complaints themselves... there isn't much point dealing with the fringe ends on either side. In general though, there are few complaints about well written characters. People don't complain about Princess Leia in SW, or Sarah Connor in Terminator; or playing femshep or Lara Croft or Cassandra from AC: Odyssey. Indeed, they tend to get complaints from the other side ('designed for male gaze' or whatever). As for what the more reasonable people tend to complain about, well, I can only really use the same example I did last time something similar came up. Basically no one complains about Omar Little from The Wire being gay. Because he's a well written character with realistic (or at least having verisimilitude/ consistency enough that you can easily forgive the very occasional bit of dramatic license) motives and behaviour who happens to be gay as well. Then you compare him with someone who did get a lot of flack for being gay: Anthony Rapp's character from ST: Discovery. I watched four seasons of that ending only months ago and I cannot remember his character's name, as his only character trait was... being gay and an engineer. His husband's only trait: gay doctor. They're extremely easy to dislike as characters as a result. It's not really a result of them being gay, it's a result of that being all that they are. If it's youtube or facebook that tends to be a bit too subtle a distinction.

The sad part about the toilet tutorial is that it is before they teach you to use consumables in your inventory and you don't actually need to go. So right away they have you go to the sink and wash your hands, then grab a towel, use it in the inventory, then remove it from the inventory to place it back on the rack.

Would be funny if it weren't so accurate. First thing in Witcher 3 you're gonna see be like: "Push x to open door." Well, and some female breasts laid bare. Truly mature game.

This is your bathroom. Here you can clean and relieve yourself. Let's use the toilet. Move two tiles to the highlighted tile, then click End Turn. Well done! You have reached the toilet! You will notice, the toilet is closed! Oh no! Do not fear, we can open it. To open the toilet, left click the Interact button in your hotbar, then select the toilet. Alternatively you can right click on the toilet and select interact from the radial menu. Let's open the toilet now. The toilet is open, well done!

Yeah, I know about that. I don't really care about combat stuff, since I'm not looking for the hardest combat difficulty, and I like stealthiness or avoidance vs. leroy tactics. it is nice that you can mix and match the options vs. the defaults if one wants it. Guns imo are last resort/boss only, imo .... there's reasons, but I don't want to spoil. And maybe some would like it anyway. The adventure menu (puzzling) changes nothing. There is no "puzzle difficulty=full", it's just moderate/off/off, which is what the "overall adventure exp" Moderate settings does by default. If you picked Puzzle-Light at the start, you could change it to Moderate, but it doesn't get any better than that.

@LadyCrimson Not sure how legit it is, but I'm gonna try with Indy -- my GPU should arrive today or tomorrow. https://steamcommunity.com/app/2677660/discussions/0/598512725180576448/

No, woke influence is real in games but W4 isnt an example that Ciri was always an established character and part of the broader narrative I generally prefer to play a male character in any RPG because its what I identify with but Im happy with the themes in this latest trailer and playing Ciri is not a big deal

Did more Indy yesterday. It's slowly beginning to really take me in. What was muffling my experience at first was the not so great interface when it comes to maps, notes, etc. Somehow it's hard to find stuff, and even now, just a few hours in, it's so full with things... if I pick up a new document and just take it without reading, I'm having a really hard time finding it again. Slowly getting used to that now, I guess, so it gets better. Love the graphics so far. The environment just looks nice. Climbing is too slow, though. Can't wait to visit egypt - on screenshots it looks like this is going to be my thing a lot. Oh, one more thing... I'm using the "easy" puzzle mode, because usually I have a hard time to get arsed but now I noticed that it might be a little much help.. one of the puzzles in the Vatican completely stopped being a puzzle and ended up nothing more than a "go to x, press all buttons, do as Indy says", since Indy commented literally on everything I was supposed to do. That kinda ruined the experience for me and I was a bit disappointed. /Edit: I just remembered another thing. Is it just me or is the sound sometimes really weird? Especially in the beginning, with some(?) characters when they talk and I look into a different direction or walk a bit away, it sounds like they are speaking through a tin can. Really weird.

I'm getting into painting Warhammer figures. And by "getting into" I mean I started up a month ago, realized I needed more supplies, got sick, and am now in a position where I can finally paint again. Why is coloring plastic so inticing?

This will mean the first game will be on a big sale, hopefully

I gave up on Veilguard. It commits the cardinal sin of being just... boring. Boring gameplay and boring characters. Jumping around between games now. Silent Hill 2 has some areas that are a bit long in the tooth, like the prison. Cyberpunk 2077 replay is stalling. Replaying Disco Elysium and loving it, but still not scratching whatever itch I'm clearly looking to have scratched. I've played a bit of Indiana Jones. It's fun enough, but also probably nothing special. Has its charm, though.

I suspect it's going to be hard to actually get hold of since the pricing is- compared to currentyear nV and AMD- certainly aggressive. You also have to wonder how many they'll make given it's not likely to have much of a profit margin due to the aggressive pricing. (The entirety of NZ's preorder stock sold out in minutes which is either an excellent indicator for demand, or rather a bad sign of supply) Hopefully enough for Intel to stick with their consumer offerings despite their current managerial etc issues.

Eh, they're not exactly releasing them often enough for how broken the game is. The longer I've been playing the more major bugs I've been encountering, from quick items not working (animation plays, nothing happens), to outright crashes to desktop, my 2nd weapon magically getting swapped out by something I didn't even have in my inventory, and now a progression stopper bug that's been there since release. So guess I'm setting the game aside, because I'm not exactly left with any other choice. On top of that as time went on general design issues are just becoming more and more apparent, from weapon balance (such as it is) to just mission, world, and progression design. The game may look like a duck, but whether it quacks like one...

The Whispered World: SE currently a giveaway.

Looking pretty good as far as generational improvements go, considering it has ~38% less XEs than the A770. When it works well, it's a really good card for its price range (and it pummels AMD in RT performance). Frametime pacing still seems to be an issue and there's the occasional crash. It's a pity Intel needed so long to get it out, what with the new generations around the corner.

I guess we need to get "Shoot CEO's, not schools" trending.

I'm replaying Dragon Age: Origins after a very long time. It's going great so far, though after a lot of aggravation initially just to get the game to run. I first tried running my Steam version, which would launch some sort of "Configuration Utility" which immediately kept crashing. No matter all the tricks I found online I could not get it to run. So that was a waste of $4 buying the game on Steam. Then I tried running my original copy of the game in the EA App. That worked, but it crashed constantly if I used a graphics setting higher than the default setting, or if I used any mods involving graphics/cut scenes upgrades. But once I fixed all that, and only limited myself to a handful of gameplay mods, it's been running fine. But clearly there is a reason why there are so many mods out there for the game. The game has so many small issues that simply would not be tolerated in a contemporary game. So I have to wonder why EA hasn't moved to create an enhanced/remastered version of all three older DA games like what they've done with Mass Effect Legendary Edition. That I would surely pay for.

Interesting, where you going to be living in EU ? I assume you working for a different company in the EU than the company in Oz? You really are global citizen, I dont know anyone who has lived and worked in so many countries and is comfortable doing it That type of freedom must be great

This build was created for a collaboration with @Aestus who runs the Youtube channel Aestus_RPG. This is build 1 of 3 from that collaboration. A link o the published videa will follow once it's out. ----------------------------------------- This build is mainly meant for inspiration. You don't need to follow it in detail to have fun. If you understand the key features - the basic idea what makes this build special - you can usually deviate from non-core attribute-, skill-, gear- and ability selection and form the build to your own likings and ideas. ----------------------------------------- aldar G'Angreen was born amidst the wild and unpredictable landscapes of the Living Lands. Kaldar's clan, skilled hunters, had been living on some icy peaks of the Living Lands. From an early age, Kaldar was drawn to the quiet, mystical side of the world. His family, though tough and pragmatic, were also devoted followers of Berath, the god of death and the cycles of life. His mother, a revered herbalist and healer, had taught him the ways of plants, potions and scrolls. She also instilled in him a respect for the natural cycles of death and rebirth. Kaldar was always intrigued by the balance that Berath governed—how life, death, and the passing of seasons were all intertwined in the endless flow of time. In his youth, Kaldar began to serve as an acolyte in his clan’s small shrine to Berath. But while others focused on the priestly aspects of service, Kaldar felt a deep calling to combine his spirituality with the physical world. He spent time meditating on the inevitability of death and the necessity of killing for survival. While others saw death as a tragic end, Kaldar recognized that it was as much a part of nature as the birth of new life. For him, Berath was not a distant, abstract force, but an ever-present reminder of the cycles that governed his world. One fateful day, Kaldar’s life took a tragic turn when his clan's valley was struck by a massive avalanche caused by the eruption of a nearby volcano. It surged through the valley, sweeping away homes and lives. Kaldar’s family was torn apart in the disaster, and though Kaldar survived, he lost many loved ones, including his parents. In the aftermath of the disaster, he found himself standing on the edge of the ruined valley, staring into the snow that had claimed so much. His grief was immense, yet it was here that Berath’s voice first spoke clearly to him. Berath's words were not of comfort, but of purpose: "The cycle is not undone by mourning, but by accepting it." It was in this moment that Kaldar fully embraced his role as both priest and warrior. He vowed to honor the goddess by ensuring that the natural cycle of life and death continued, even in the face of chaos and destruction. His grief gave way to a profound understanding of the delicate balance of life, death, and rebirth, and he dedicated himself to both protecting his people and serving as a guide for those whose souls crossed into the afterlife. Kaldar took up his greatsword, a weapon forged by his ancestors and passed down to him on the day he took his vows. While his spiritual power could heal the dying, offer prayers and ease suffering, he knew that Berath’s will could sometimes only be carried out through action. His greatsword, capable of cleaving through the toughest of creatures, became a symbol of his devotion to the god of cycles. The sword now struck when Kaldar’s spells had done their work. After offering his prayers, he would pick up the weapon, his greatsword carving a path through enemies and ensuring that Berath’s will was done. Soon he was known as St. Gangrene. Now, Kaldar travels beyond his homeland, drawn to the Dyrwood by rumors of imbalances in the cycle of life and death. He has heard whispers of unnatural occurrences - a plague that refuses to end, souls that do not pass to the newborn and deaths that seem wrong, as if they were taken before their time. Kaldar believes that Berath is calling him to right these wrongs, and he knows that his strength and his divine connection will be crucial to restoring balance. His true purpose lies in bringing death when necessary, but also ensuring that life flourishes where it is meant to. But mostly bringing death when necessary... =================================== St. Gangrene =================================== Difficulty: PotD -------------------------------------------------------------- Class: Priest -------------------------------------------------------------- Race: Dwarf (optional) -------------------------------------------------------------- Background: The Living Lands - Colonist -------------------------------------------------------------- Stats: MIG: 21 (+1 Living Lands) CON: 10 DEX: 15 PER: 14 INT: 15 RES: 03 -------------------------------------------------------------- Skills: Survival 8, Lore 10, Athletics 8 -------------------------------------------------------------- Talents (a=auto, r=recommended, !=important) 2: Inspiring Radiance® 4: The Pallid Hand® 6: Weapon Focus Soldier® 8: Aggrandizing Radiance® 10: Runner’s Wounding Shot 12: Two Handed Style 14: Apprentice's Sneak Attack 16: Savage Attack Abilities 9: Spell Mastery: Blessing 11: Spell Mastery: Holy Power®, retrain to Instill Doubt at lvl 15 bc. of Apprentice’s Sneak Attack 13: Spell Mastery: Dire Blessing 15: Spell Mastery: Devotions for the Faithful® Story Talents: - The Merciless Hand - Dungeon Delver - Song of the Heavens - Galawain's Boon (+1 MIG) --------------------------------------------------------------- Items (!=important, r=recommended): Weapon Set 1: Tidefall (!) (for hitting foes, legendary, Corrosive Lash) Weapon Set 2: Abydon’s Hammer® (more Might for casting spells) Boots: Shod in Faith® Head: Maegfolc Skull Armor: Angio’s Gambeson, Vengiatta Rugia Neck: Cloak of Comfort Belt: Girdle of the Driving Wave® Rings: Seal of Faith, Ring of Protection Hands: Gauntlets of Puissant Melee, Celebrant's Gloves --------------------------------------------------------------- Hi! Another late build for PoE - I was invited for a second interview by @Aestus again, this time for PoE. And since I talked about some PoE build ideas in the forum but never posted them, we thought this was a good opportunity to do so. St. Gangrene is a Priest of Berath who wants to hit enemies with a great sword - once all the casting is done. To do that we combine very high Might and combine it with the unique great sword Tidefall - and of course high Might is great for healing as well as damaging spells... and Holy Radiance's damage gainst vessels, too (it actually scales extremely well with MIGH in combination with tha Priest's favored dispositions, one-shotting most vessels at some point)! Later we can even use Abydon's Hammer for some extra Might when we are casting damaging or healing spells. The reason why high Might works very well with Tidefall: its wounding enchantment is a 25% raw lash, but unlike other lashes it scales with Might. More Might means higher lash damage. Higher Might also means higher weapon damage, which in turn raises the lash damage as well: win-win. You can then add some melee dmg bonuses with Savage Attack, Two-Handed Style ad Apprentice's Sneak Attack, which raises the damage further. In order to achieve ridiculos Might we maxize it during character creation (Dwarf or Aumaua, Human also works, Living Lands) and then always use the best +MIG item we can find until we get the Maegfolc Skull (+4). If combined with Holy Power, later Champion's Boon or Minor Avatar (+8 to everything) and Aggrandizing Radiance (+2 to everything, stacks) the Might score slowly grows towards 40 points. Use the Blighthollow Resting in Caed Nua for +3 extra Might, it lasts for 3 rests in the wilderness. ~40 Might means +90% damage and healing - and it turns the 25% wounding lash into a 48% lash - so to speak. Combine with a 25% elemental lash and the melee damage is pretty impressive - outright outrageous for a Priest. The healing bonus even works for healing that affects health: Wound Binding for example (you might consider taking it, it can prevent frequent resting because of los health) but also potions of Infuse with Vital Essence. If you drink such a potion before the combat ends it can restore quite some health for you. All that Might is also benefical for the second nice enchantment the weapon has: draining. With draining you'll add a portion of the damage you deal to your endurance, healing you. Lots of great sword damage = lots of healing. A Priest of Berath (starting ACC of 20 only) can use the talent "the Pallid Hand" to get +10 accuracy with great swords, which lifts him on the level of Fighters (30 base ACC). Add Weapon Focus Soldier and the usual accuracy buffs a Priest has (Blessing, Devotions, Minor Avatar etc.) and you can see that hitting enemies will not be a problem at all. It's still a Priest so the main focus is on the spells - but often, once you are finished with your spells or want to spare spells for later, you want to do something mundane with your Priest. This one can. It's also great to be able to whack some sense into backline rushers who think they can just annoy your casters. To make the melee combat more fun and interesting I added Runner's Wounding Shot (the 80% DoT stacks with Wounding) and the Girdle of the Driving Wave (which gives you Knockdown 1/encounter which can be super useful against rushers) - so you will have two special melee attacks per encounter at least. If you want to get even more you can pick up Envenomed Strikes instead of Savage Attack or Apprentice's Sneak Attack. It's 3/rest - but very strong if you take it early - and its damage scales well with Might, too. Remember: you can always retrain... Also Gatecrasher Gloves can be fun: Clear Out with high MIG and good INT is no joke. Cheers and have fun!

Thanks Boeroer! The pale elf option looks actually quite in line with my bit of rp-ing. Have 3 elven sisters: Alleria and Verissa are a wizard and a rogue, the last one is the cipher, and you can guess the name )) Her being a pale instead of wood is gonna look quite in line with a story. Will check the timetable for Rymrgand in act 1. UPD: Worked like a charm. And now i'm gonna retrain to the proper glass cannon build =))

Without figurines I think Rymrgand's Mantle (even better with Elemental Endurance/Pale Elf¹) and a great position in a corner is a must in order to survive. High fortitude defense (even better with Towering Physique/Coastal Aumaua²) against the stun attack (ACC 46) could be used to avoid being stunlocked. The ACC of the phantoms is 35 for the physical attack iirc - so high deflection would also help to avoid stunlocking: if the initial attack misses there will be no stun. So... classes aside I think it's either Pale Elf or Coastal Aumaua + Rymrgand's Mantle + shield and weapon & shield style which might have the best chance. Maybe Fire Godlike could be useful, too. Alternatively, if your delfection is already good, the Belt of the Royal Deadfire Cannoneer with FIrebrand can help you even if you didn't manage to unlock the Flame Shield (which would be awesome here, bonus +10 freeze DR and fire retaliation): Firebrand has 30+ fire base damage and can kill Phantoms very quickly - IF you manage to avoid the stunlock. Maybe Coastal Auamaua + Mantle + Belt + Firebrand woud be great. As for classes: Darcozzi Paladin with Fires of Darcozzi Palace might be best in this case due to the high potential fort defense in combination with the minor flame shield. --- 1: Elemental Endurance adds +10 freeze DR. Rymrgand's Mantle calculates the 20% endurance healing from freeze dmg BEFORE DR, so the Mantle + very high freeze DR can lead to: received healing > suffered damage. However, health will still get damaged and cost you the fight - but the health pool is significantly higher than the endurance pool. You can find the Mantle here: 2: Towering Physique adds +20 defense against stun (and prone) which is a huge bonus that early in the game - esp. against "only" 46 CC.

Instead of personality or time of day, my brain wants to relate this to age, except I'd add a couple categories: 200%=kid/teenager, 100%=20's/30's, 75%=40's, 50%=50's, 25%=60's, and 1%=me in 15+ years, assuming I make it there.

Based on some forum posts and user reviews, in terms of the Indy game I think this is mostly going to be dependent on resolution and settings one personally tolerates. Outside of the "needs a rtx capable card", ofc. I mean it sounds like the visual differences with settings aren't super extreme - a trend I've noticed happening over recent years in a lot of games, actually - and one has to remember that while actually playing, most aren't staring at every pixel to notice fine differences, like all these comparison videos emphasize. In terms of upgrading GPU's - I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist but it does make one feel like AAA devs/nvidia are working together to force people to buy the top tier cards - eg, gimping the 60/70/80 series re: vram. >.> I've said it before and I'll say it again - it may be "slower" generation but the 11gb of vram in my 2080ti (and sometimes, dlss, of course) is probably what has allowed to me to marginally still run some of these games at 4k at my personal tolerance of 45-60fps/mid-high settings etc. I refuse to do less than dlss-quality tho. I've tried. "Balanced" dlss still looks like crap, imo. I might as well just drop the native resolution to 1440, then.

I don't know/care about "woke" but sometimes I'm a little tired of all the constant "female protagonist" games (when you can't choose) in a lot of the games - well, at least re: those that aren't purposefully otp machismo-action/godofwar/military/whatever fantasy. I just sometimes (well, ok, often) don't want female protagonists. I weirdly don't relate most of the time, or don't like many female VA's, perhaps why any "gaming imbalance" never bothered me in the first place. What I've always wanted is a kind of equal numerical balance of all the tropes/issues/genres/hoohaa of the moment. So there's plenty of options/styles etc. all around, all the time. Which I know is unrealistic to expect, and it never happens - always swings one way or the other to extremes as trends. Ah well. I was considering wasting money on the Indy game out of curiosity re: performance on my aging rig - plus he's a non-otp-machismo male protagonist - but after skimming through a few ppl playing it, it looks ... kinda boring. I mean if one really wanted an Indy game to capture an Indy feel, it looks good for that - I just mean, for my gameplay tastes. I might still waste money on it tho, could be false viewing impression. Not paying the early-access price hike tho.

I get what you mean, but I don't think it's just Diablo where this comes from.

The padding in BG3 was all those empty containers you had to shift through to find the ones with something in them. Remove those, halves the game time.

You must have been sleeping Hemorrhaging is universal, meaning it procs off of ALL crits - spells, weapon attacks, attack rolls from other items (Boltcatchers, Hylea's Talons, Ajamuut's Stalking Cloak, Ring of Clenched Muscle...) anything that can roll crit will trigger Hemorrhaging. So far, so good - but waht good does repeated appliance of hobble or sicken do (besides prolonging the duration of the hobble or sicken effect)? Since Homorrhaging itself is a weapon enchantment it counts as a weapon attack! This means it will trigger Avenging Storm bolts. And what do Avenging Storm bolts trigger if they crit? Right: Hemorrhaging! And what does Hemorrhaging trigger? That's right again: Avenging Storm... You can see where this is going. It helps that Hylea's Talons and Ring of Clenched Musle also get triggered by Hemorrhaging and themselves can trigger Avenging Storm (and Hemorrhaging again). Any attack roll you can produce raises the chance that a crit occurs - which has the chance to proc Hemorrhaging which in turn procs Avenging Storm and so on. Spells that do pulsing attack rolls (or even better, do multiple attack rolls per pulse) are awesome in order to trigger constant crits: Tanglefoot, Relentless Storm, Wicked Briars, Venombloom (multiple rolls per pulse) and so on. Great Maelstrom, too. There is no better weapon for a Fury (or any Druid who uses Avenging Storm). It also works for a Stormspeaker (Tekehu), the chants can trigger Avenging Storm from the invocation. And for a little bit of melee fun: Taste of the Hunt + Effort's raw DoT is also not bad for the occasional strike with the blade (can also trigger an avalanche of Avenging Storm/Hemorrage of course). @Constentin Lévine was the one who originally discovered this neat synergy. All props to him! Maybe I'll do a little animated gif for showcasing at some point. Would spare me a lot of explanation I guess.

Yes, is that a bad thing though?

Yes @thelee, I'm saying just that. When you cast avenging storm (at least, the scroll version) twice, puff!, veteran's maneuver is gone.

Ciri was the most meh part for me in Witcher (books and game). So for now I'm meh about it.

you download the games which is lamest for me. I had gift code for subscription and I hated that I had to download 100+ gigs game on my sistem in order to play it for just a week

Cool. Guess I will try it then. In other news, itch.io is currently down: https://bsky.app/profile/itch.io/post/3lcu6h465bs2n