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I've always avoided fighting the bigger wildlife in the first games, but it is kind of unavoidable in this one. We'll see where they go with it, I suppose, currently they feel more like a nuisance than a threat, which does not seem ideal if you are trying to create a tense atmosphere. Familiarity indeed plays a significant role. I'd be extremely impressed if they manage to recapture that feeling from the first game, but I consider it rather unlikely and am certainly not banking on it.

Finished Chaos Gate Demon Hunters. I liked it overall, there was enough there to pull me towards the ending. Although I rushed through the last part of it and skipped some available missions that showed up. Missed the 500 days achievement by a couple of days, but apart from that nothing else that I really wanted to do. Could have gotten that too if I didn't prolong the game to get some upgrades, but w/e... I don't see the complaint that there is not enough enemy variety, but I will complain about the boss fights. They are ass and don't feel like bosses at all. I played on normal, but I still should not be able to kill them before they get their turn. They had the idea with the last boss, which was damage gated. So that took some time at least, but it wasn't particularly challenging. Yeah, they sort of seem to not know what they want with the threat mechanics. They did say they plan to expand on it and make it more interesting but so far I agree that it's a step down from the first part. Although I will say that the first part may have been better in that regard simply because it was new and people were interacting with it for the first time. Here, in part 2, people already know what to expect so the feeling of see it for the first time is lost.

Messi should've been sent off But horrible refereeing all around

I'm looking forward to England v. Croatia today; it's a potentially solid matchup. I guess we'll see. Congrats to the GOAT yesterday; man, Messi still (almost) plays like he's under 30. At least against Algeria.

Some US FIFA humor

My interest in English football is probably limited to how Liverpool will fare under Iraola. I was a bit of a fan when Klopp managed them because their games were always interesting whether winning or losing 😝 Edit under Slot they went from heavy metal football to snooze ball and I lost interest 😞

Yeah, France shifted out of fourth gear for the second half. There have been some scorching shots thus far.

While I don't know how to export the templates I use (AI Scripts), it might also be for the best since I'm not very good at it. That said, making changes to builds and AI behavior might be a good part of the fun, as you can feel the upgrades taking form and your expectations adjusting each level. A couple general ideas: Eder: I usually go Fighter/Rogue (Swashbuckler) Multiclass with lots of Deflection, Riposte, and very simple scripts: (i) activate Vigorous/Refresh Defense at 90% HP with a long CD, and Unbending at 75% somewhat timed with the duration; (ii) Activate Disciplined Strikes when not Perception-Inspired if at least 3 Discipline; (iii) Finishing Blow enemies below 50%. Maia: I mostly run Ranger/Rogue (Scout) with "The Red Hand" (two barrel arquebus from Delver's Row), casting Marked Prey (or For The Hunt) on (Caster/Light Armor priority), then casting Blind/Cripple/Wounding on marked target if at least 3 class resourced. Finishing Blows for targets above 25% and below 50% (as to avoid waste). She's my eliminator. Pallegina: I usually pick Herald, select the songs and the default "Cautious Paladin" and "Offensive Chanter". She's my autopilot among autopilots. I throw some auras on her and hope for the best. I once exchanged her for the N'gati's Chosen (whose name eludes me now), and it was nice putting him up with Foe-AoE-Only casts and some healing. Most recommend single classes for Xoti (Priest), Aloth (Mage) and Seraphen (this one is more divided and the one I use the less). I multiclass because I like the "autopilot" appeal of martials. Xoti in my plays is a mix of a "Mortar Monk" (2min of this forum and it will blow your mind, alongside with your enemies; a real piece of a build by Boroer). She doesn't get all the blasting power or stats as the actual Mortar Monk and you waste her individual kit. On the other side, she gets absolute AOE/Duration for her spells, without getting in too close, and still throwing out debuffs from Blunderbusses like nobodies' business. Aloth, since I find it hard to "program" for effective offensive casting, I simply make him a spellblade with tons of auto-buffs and ranged weapon damage (Frostseeker or summoned weapons). Either class or class-combo should be fine. Rogue probably does more damage; Fighter is probably more reliable; Pure Wizard is probably the most "I'll properly control him now and change this fight if I need it". Some feelings I have about setting your own AI, that I'll irresponsibly make into tips (take my inexperienced approach with some grains of salt): Make it level by level, it isn't overwhelming if you make it part of the level up. Adjust as you see fit, it is rewarding to identify a need and fix it. Pick your upgrades based on what you feel you can incorporate in your gameplay/AI, not every great build fits your micro availability/willingness. Heavy AI usage kinda goes hand in hand with "death-ball + atrition" group setups and long fights, at least in my experience; extra points for renewable sustain power; Incorporating "on-rest" and usable (yes, you can potion/scroll on auto) items is powerful but far more tiresome than relying on "always available" resources. Beating a hard fight on autopilot to me is as fun as microing the hell out of it; makes me feel a mastermind of careful planning. I don't think I could do any Megaboss with my general strategies, and I think it is a fair ceiling.

I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question: Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? "No!" says the quest marker, it belongs to the impatient. "No!" says the in-game GPS, it belongs to the blind. "No!" says the witcher sense, it belongs to the stupid. I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Gothic. The Gothic Remake Shows What's Wrong With Modern Games

Okay I figured out. the effect that triggers another destroy effect can't have infinite duration, and adding the destroy effect with insta-kills effects won't work. Must add a duration/delay to both

I'm pretty sure that's a vanilla game issue. You can also keep summoned or "natural" weapons with the help of Spiritshift/Form of the Fearsome Brute, Draining Touch and Minor Blights*. So something with the implementations of "switching forms" and "switching weapons" along the way is not 100% watertight. * for example cast Minor Blights, then shift into an Ogre, then the right Ogre Fists weapon gets replaced by a minor blight - bc. they rotate elemental types and this will summon a new form of blight weapon every time, even when you are shifted and cannot cast, then when the fight ends before the Minor Blights and Fearsome Brute spell runs out you will transform back into your normal form - with an Ogre Fist in your weapon slot which you can use like any other weapon (it's auto scaling). They are actually pretty good because they always interrupt on crit. And they make a funny boink sound when striking with them. Same can be done with spiritshift weapons or the one handed Great Sword of Citzal (PL9 wizard spell). That's all without any mods.

Subnautica 2 too. Having fun so far. As @Hurlshort mentioned, there is nothing wildly different about it. Also having fun with HoMaM Olden Era. The nostalgia is of the charts on this one and so far it's not losing steam.

Finished Mixtape. Pretty good experience. Though it's less a game and more some sort of interactive story, I guess. The visuals are very nice. They kinda copied Life is Strange but made it feel like its own thing, which is great. Makes me feel nostalgic for a time that I never even experienced. It's like those 90s inspired artworks where if you have lived through the 90s, you recognize all the details, but it just wasn't like that if you get what I mean. Anyways. pretty good. Would like to have more. Best part: No super powers. Holy ****. Is that even possible? A teenage drama game without special super human abilities? Yes, yes it is. The characters are remembering things from the past, and because of that, everything is kinda dream-like and open for interpretation. IMO it's well done. Really hope there will be some more in the future.

Imo the most fun combination is Wizard/Monk and especially Bloodmage/Helwalker (or Nalpaszca or vanilla) because there's lots of synergies and the active abilities are most fun to use imo. Turning Wheel (+10 INT and burning lash) is great with an AoE weapon such as Spirit Lance since the AoE size grows a lot with wounds. Stunning Surge is awesome with Spirit Lance and also Kalakoth's Minor Blights. Blood Sacrifice is not only trading spell casts for health but also results in instant wound generation. Force of Anguish is hilarious with Spirit Lance (send enemies flying into all directions). Blade Turning with Wall of Draining is bonkers. You can just ignore melee attackers (they will kill themselves) while you calmly cast some spells. Paralyzing spells such as Ninagauth's Shadowflame work well in combination with Merciless Gaze + Swift Flurry & Heartbeat Drumming because of the stacked crit conversions. And so on and so forth. Wizard/Soulblade is good but imo it's too one-dimensional. Wizard/Fighter is also good (Wall of Draining + Unbending is bonkers and so is Clear Out + Spirit Lance) but imo it's less entertaining than Monk. Wizard/Druid can actually be a good melee combo of you like spiritshift. It's not that great early but had tremendous potential later in the game. Something like Bloodmage/Lifegiver (Cat form), combined with Wall of Draining, numerous self buffs and Zandethu's Draconic Fury does good melee dmg, casts very fast and is almost impossible to kill even if Blood Sacrifice is used a lot because the Restorations can be stacked and are so strong when shifted. For Wizard/Paladin I made a build that was very fun to play (Bloodmage/Steel Garrotes) - search for a "Bloody Parry" class build in this forum if you are interested. But it's less about melee damage and more about using a special melee weapon to combine passive healing with defense and constant spellcasting. I like Wizard/Rogue with AoE weapons (Blights or Lance or even a rod + Blast in the beginning) and Arterial Strike + spells that slows enemies movement down further (Arduous Delay, Chillfog etc.). They will run slowly but still get the raw dmg from Arterial Strike per 0.1 sec (the game doesn't count actual steps but just applies the raw dmg every 0.1 secs as long as enemies move). Assassin/Bloodmage can cast such a spell from stealth and immediately follow with an AoE Crippling Strike (stealth has a -80% recovery time bonus). If you then follow up with a Pull of Eora most enemy groups are usually done. Or you combine Gouging Strike + Arterial Strike at the start of combat for more raw ticks. That's also fun imo.

I have yet to mini-game fish in CD. I simply swim around and catch by hand. It works so why not. Every medieval/fantasy game needs the hangin' tree, right? There are 7 trillion "jigsaw puzzle" scenes in this game. Still like his hair. And the cat. Especially the cat. (they've also added birds as tameable pets now, heh).

Contrary to popular superstition, AES 128 is just fine in a post-quantum world - Ars Technica

sweet jeebus, that might explain why those druid sporelings carried me in that Sealed Fate ambush.

New XBOX management, same habit of shutting down their most interesting studios. Double Fine, Ninja Theory and Compulsion Games might be in trouble. Hopefully they will find a new home, rather then being destroyed outright. Rock Paper ShotgunAnother Xbocalypse begins: Microsoft are reportedly closi...Xbox plan to close or spin off the makers of Psychonauts, Senua and South of Midnight, claims report, as Microsoft try to grow their margins.Edit. Jason Schreier on XBOX:

My best friend from school...