Monte Carlo

CNC3 was a bit too Warcraft-with-tanks for me. So even though I love RTS games, this is a bit meh for me. Red Alert remains the pinnacle of the C&C universe as far as I'm concerned. Cheers MC

I like Ray M, I really do. He always comes across well and that was a good interview. BUT. [pedant]Ray, it's not "Mealie". It's Mel-ay (imagine an accent on the second 'e' of melee).[/pedant] Sorry, it's a pet hate. You may return to normal service. Shucks, it ain't like they don't have French speakers in Canada!

^ Darth Jebus, honestly, with MotB and SoZ installed it plays like a different game, runs smoother and looks better too.

^ Amen brother, I suspect that I'll be wearing my purist gaming halo 50% of the time and my munchkin horns the other 50. Or maybe 40/60 in favour of horns. Cheers MC

In my car, at the moment... The Best of Frank Sinatra Permission to Land - The Darkness Scouting for Girls - Scouting for Girls Only by the Night - Kings of Leon (is it cool to like KoL? I do, I just suspect that they might be a bit too anthemic for the coolerati) I get Wet - Andrew WK Maroon - The Barenaked Ladies Gladiator - The movie soundtrack

^ I take your point, but sometimes gamers need to bite the bullet and play the game. Hey, the developer can lead a horse to water... And, if some people want to creep-save and that makes them happy then why not? I'm being a bit of a hippy today, I might go and have a drink. Cheers MC

OK, so i like Gromnir's ranger / rogue build idea and I like the Pal / Divine Champ / Ftr build too. I've made a Rog 4 / Rngr 'X' and he's quite cool (Weapon Focus - Bastard Sword to up the d/w melee ante) but he could be a bit chunkier in combat. What do folks think? Do I sacrifice a few ranger levels for FTR for the feats or consider an evil ranger and take the BG route? Also, my guy is a human and I took able learner so I'm skilled up...any better ideas?

That was a very helpful article, kudos to the author. I've highlighted an interesting point, something I've been banging on about for a while. Bio unleashed the marketing monster then had to do damage limitation. As for the 'consequences' thing, well I'm not a writer but I understand the concept of 'show don't tell.' Consequences should be relayed to us subtly, maybe a comment from a third party, a letter here, an empty room there. Clues. And if some people miss them, then it's no biggie. All in all, an emollient review.

I'll third the motion to switch off power attack. I never actually use it, I only take the feat as a pre-cursor for Cleave. It really is the root of the problem you're having. I've run through the OC twice - once with a Ftr / Rog and once with a Ftr / Rog / Blackguard. That particular level was very easy for the Blackguard because I was summoning fairly powerful undead minions who were immune to backstab and using them as bait...

^ Thinking about it, if you want a less rural, outdoorsy adventure you could just hot-foot it to Prague instead, which is a marvellous place to spend a few days in the Summer. London is a must, but too out of the way for your arrival point. Rome is too far south. Berlin is groovier than a groovy thing but too far north. Prague it is.

From Germany your route should include Northern Italy (I'd love to say Venice, but not that time of year), The Dolomites, Austria and then Slovenia (check out Trieste on the way) Slovenia is utterly beautiful and, it has to be said, good value for money for the budget-conscious traveller. Ten days is pushing this itinerary, but it's worth it.

NWN2 OC = OK, with genuine flashes of coolness (Captain's Keep Battle, The Trial) MotB = Legitimizes the whole endeavour, really, great writing and interesting NPCs + epic battles (also polishes the camera and graphics, plus performance) SoZ = Campy hack'n'slash party-based fun, altho' a lot of people here hated it As for your problem with the paladin I'm baffled. I ALWAYS go down the power attack / cleave / supreme cleave route with ALL melee characters. Have you done this? TBH, I find character building a bit tricky too nowadays (see my MotB thread). I usually go for a Fighter / Rogue type (great melee capability, reasonable HP and sneak attack goodness with, say, a greatsword) with mebbe a Barbarian level or two thrown in for a laugh. That build will see you through the OC without too much trouble, when fighting rogues play them at their own game and try to flank them using Khelgar as the primary target for their anger. I used my Ftr / Rog and the Tiefling chick to do this versus rogues in the OC and it worked pretty well, by the time you get to Neverwinter you should have around +3d6 or even +4d6 sneak attack damage with a multi-classed rog. Cheers MC

Thanks for all the advice, I've tried a few of these out in the opening dungeon. I've never thought of the sick x5 criticals with the scythe, hmmm. Di, tried the Eldritch Knight, agree it's fun but there still just too much fiddling around with spells! Might have one in my next SoZ party. MINOR OPENING SPOILERS I've also considered other spell-casters and gone for a fighter 6 / cleric 8 / warpriest 7 (Tempus) at the start of the game, monkey-gripping that greataxe you find at the end of the upper barrow. Got him to The Veil and got my arse kicked in shadow veil by the red wizards summoning devils and stuff. This is due to my almost total unfamiliarity with spellz and stuff. I just buff as much as I can and go batsh**t crazy with melee, and my arse gets handed to me. So what suits my playing style best for very high levels, I suspect, is a melee character with non-modal and passive buffs / resistances. Which is making me think paladin. Any other ideas for a magic-resistant tank character that would benefit from highish WIS & CHA? Cheers MC

You might remember it, the dungeon underneath a big mauve bridge near the Halfling Village. Very narrow tunnels / corridors and the pathfinding was atrocious. I mean epic-level awfulness. You had to navigate each character individually around tight spots. Add a number of 'Kobold Kommandoes' (am still amused by notion of small reptilitan creatures having special forces unit) armed with fire arrows lurking in packs everywhere and you have a veritable festival or re-loading, wailing and gnashing of teeth.

^ You are in fact Damon Albarn and I claim my twenty pounds.

The only part of the game where I actually dismissed all my party members and left them outside, finished the level solo then picked them back up again. I had a melee-orientated dual-class Ftr/ Thf, it's actually not that bad if you used the old stealth-and-run cheese. Cheers MC

^ No, LAZY should be an origin story. A very short one. Lazy Origin Story: Dwarven Tunnel-Scout (Male) Snorg Rockbeard stirred from his sleep and climbed out of bed. The dreams had returned: a world in flames, a being of ancient evil awakening, a band of heroes facing insurmoutable odds... The Clerics of Sven Golden-Hammer, deity of the Rockbeard clan, swore that this marked Snorg as The Chosen One, the one Dwarven legend called The Stone-Hero. As a young Tunnel-Scout, a warrior trained in tracking the subterranean goblin foes of the clan, he was supremely qualified for the task. Already he had won The Crossbow of Steel for his exploits in the tunnels and caves of the Granite-Fist mountains. The other young dwarves already looked up to him, and none in the clan doubted his ability to drink ale and wield his battle-hammer, occasionally at the same time. He walked from the tunnel complex and looked out over the Fjords of Frosty-Nose peaks, taking in the bracing air and feeling the apple-sized snowflakes on his ruddy face. The weak winter sun sat low on the horizon and he could hear the wailing of Snow Trolls in the distance. A great quest awaited... "Bugger that," said Snorg, heading back to bed, "I'm gonnae have meself a bacon sandwich then go tae the pub." And so ended Snorg Rockbeard's part in the Quest to halt the Dark Shadows Rising of the Colon of: The Narcolich.

My last word on the subject, but in UK jurisdictions property doesn't have to be 'tangible' and therefore illegally downloading games is Theft. Not 'sort of' theft or a 'technical' theft but Theft.

Things I say once a century: Volourn is on the money. Period.

Assassins get something called Death Attack (IIRC) which is basically their sneak attack. It stacks with rogue SA, the last character I made who was pure rog / assn had a sick +12d6 combined SA or something.

I didn't know that Britain's Got Talent was doing auditions this weekend, Walsy.

^ Duh. Had to update the drivers for my video cards. Anyhoo, I'm thinking warrior / assassin build. Would a Ranger be the best base class or a ranger / fighter build? Or Ftr / Rog? Cheers MC

Bit of a problem. I have SoZ installed and the game autopatched to the most recent release. However, for some reason MotB crashes my monitor / screen goes black. Does anyone know if this is a known issue? As Atari tech support is useless. Cheers MC

I've played what many consider to be some of the best cRPGs, but I it's rare for me to complete or replay them. loving the blog

^ Indeed. We already have the Corsairs of Odge, who are pirates. Now we need an order of Mysterious Eastern Assassins