Nonek

Yes, this is one of the few examples of dlc that I think was done right. They each add to the base game, the level cap ecetera and are by themselves amazing additions to the game. Each very different but of the utmost quality one can wring from the engine, and explore interesting themes and locations. Worth the money, no doubt in my mind, especially in comparison to most dlc.

Suffer not the promancer to talk, else his squeeing echo. Suffer not the promancer to see, lest he lay his diseased gaze on a goodly woman. Suffer not the promancer to touch, for he is debased and diseased. Suffer not the promancer to hear, for all he shall hear is scorn. Suffer not the promancer to taste, do not nourish evil. Suffer not the promancer to live, else his deviancy spread.

It's worse when your Mastiff is lying across your feet and looks up at you quizzically when the wolves are yipping and crying in death, I feel like such a bounder. That said the game does have these wolves behaving unnaturally because of the monster that is present in the forest, a Lyshee or somesuch?

I thought Mr Adler was the native American chap off Star Trek: Voyager before Mr Joe introduced him, quite a resemblance.

Or simply make the protagonist an Inquisitor, with the party being his Dark Heresy team, it would be quite interesting to examine and use his psychic abilities, the temptations of the Warp, the presence of the Astronomicon and whatnot.

It really does cry out for a computer roleplaying game in my opinion, one where choice and consequence are prioritised, because with the grimdark and horrific nature of the everyday 40k galaxy, choices would be brutal and unforgiving. In point of fact I could see most players falling to chaos, because they could not maintain the necessary detachment and belief that are required to execute imperial justice.

For: 1. Souls - The emphasis on Souls, their nature and potency is a simple but very effective method of explaining many plot points, grounding the setting in its own consistency and prompting further exploration. A very good idea to expand upon in my own humble opinion. 2. Culture - Setting the differing races and species into more organic cultures, rather than the hackneyed racial roles we have seen so many times, is a very fertile source of interesting situations and differences. It also has a nice smack of realism about it that most fantasy worlds lack to their detriment, after all the fantastic cannot bloom without a thorough grounding in the mundane. 3. Species - Having the Dwarves, Elves and OohMama's being seperate sapient species, with their own racial divisions is an interesting take on these cliche'd creatures. Usually they function as barely disguised human archetypes that in my opinion are not really needed or add anything to a setting that races of humanity cannot. However their obvious seperation from humanity, and how they came to integrate into largely human cultures raises interesting questions to explore and expand upon, which I personally look forward to. 4. Animancy - In a world where Souls exist as an absolute and somewhat manipulatable entity then it makes sense that we find individuals trying to examine, catalogue and unlock their secrets. It bears striking parallels to the work of Alchemists such as Dee whom sought to understand and become closer to God, through the acting of purifying base materials, and thus making them closer to Him. There is such inherent possibility, promise and potential in this aspect especially in a world that is moving forward into what seems to be a renaissance. 5. No romances - If only other developers could stand firm and simply get rid of this sickening feature, and ignore the people who clamour for it, we would have far more interesting, well developed and authentic characters. Characters who do not need the protagonists attentions to fix them, do not roll over and open their legs after a few correct dialogue choices, consider friendship and familiarity more important than flirting and most of all actually have something to say and do outside of their romance arc. Against: 1. Rogues - I still have issues with their nomenclature, I would simply rename them to more effectively match their use as the superior Fighters of the group. Assassin, Weaponmaster, Killer etcetera. 2. Durability - Really enjoyed this as an aspect of preparation in for instance Betrayal at Krondor, and the suggested Durability system sounded very fine to me. A pity it's gone. 3. Combat Animations - Not really a gripe but more of a wish, playing such games as Severance, Revenant and Sacred I quite like the wide variety of combat maneouvres and finishers, they add a certain something to the melee. Hope they're in a future installment of Poe, but not at the expense of the more important features, that Mr Sawyer rightfully prioritises. 4. Attributes - I'm not quite sure what they are or represent, I can go by the results and what they give me but I would still like some more clarity as these are the building blocks with which we will interact with the world of Poe. 5. Elves - Obviously. Edit: Indeed Scooby Doo was much better.

Erm not a Fighter specific question, more combat based, but can Ciphers and Monks have a somewhat symbiotic relationship? For example the Cipher wounds the Monk to power his abilities, and the Monk absorbs that damage to power his, a high risk method of preparing for combat if you will?

The blond ladies eye seems a little off somehow, askew or misplaced, maybe that's just my perspective. Edit: The lady isn't a demonstration of a Fighter is she? One would think that their role as the punchbag would leave any Fighter horribly scarred and rather forbidding looking, as well as carrying a lot more muscle to aid in their armour bearing.

One believes the people of Harappa, inspired by their great god king Parappa, solved most issues by singing and dancing like a rapper. I may be mistaken.

Thank you Mr VC, I provide legal exculpation and sign everything.

Revenant. Old Diablo like, with a far better combat system, the scale of progression is quite steep but very satisfying. Like most good combat games it has a fatigue system in place that limits one, and at the same time prioritises careful use of abilities. Abilities need to be learned from a combat master however, and only unlock every few levels. The special finishing animations are quite something, hard to pull off, but so rewarding as they will end your foe no matter his health, and each foe has a different one, two or three. Enemies usually have similar moves they can execute against you however, at a significant cost to your health. The main character, Locke De Avaram the Revenant, is a prototypical antihero, and some of his dialogue is frankly cringe inducing though it does get better. The amount of armour and weapons is broad, the spells are very potent, and one has access to both making the protagonist somewhat overpowered. The colour palette is bright and vibrant, perhaps a little too much so in some areas, but a refreshing change from grey and brown. All told i'd say the game reeks of unfinished potential, there's a lot of quality and depth there, but almost everything is unfinished or only hinted at. A shame really as one can see the obvious hard work and ambition that have been poured into it.

As far as i'm aware Animancers do not have any inherent powers, from the descriptions given they seem to experiment with natural (to Eora) laws and produce effects, not develop powers due to their field of study. I assume copper and Adra play large roles in their work, a thorough study of all things Engwithan, and as much time as they can spend with spiritually potent individuals, observing and noting down any peculiarities. I agree that a background or the aid of a Cipher or Wizard might change and speed their research, but from what Mr Sawyer has written it does seem to be a field of study that is entirely divorced from class. However that's only my interpretation based on the limited knowledge we possess, and it may be entirely misguided I admit. However it's certainly one of the aspects i'm most looking forward to in Poe.

I'd not object to such a scenario at all, however with the emphasis on combat (that a BG like demands) it justs seems unfeasible at the moment to have a non combat class. One susupects this is why the Thief has become another more skilled Fighter, rather than a burglar and master of the cityscape. Perhaps when the world of Poe has advanced into an Arcanum like period we might see such an adventuring professor, but for the moment it seems like the cipher and Wizard are the applied and immediate options for those interested in Animancy.

The creatures advance upon you, their fanged jaws dripping blood and flesh, their wicked eyes glinting with feral hunger and rage. Their leader a massive black furred beast snaps the femur he was chewing on in half, and proceeds to swallow noisily while his forked tongues licks unspeakable slobber from his jaws. He spares you a glance full of evil intelligence and contempt, "FRESH MEAT!" He roars and his pack charges. Animancer you won the initiative roll, what do you do? Hmmm tricky, very well I infiltrate my way into the company of Lord Drennan through a few public showings of my work on revivification. The simple demonstration of how Souls react to copper wiring, a pair of magnets and a steady flow of steam powered electricity. A weeks showings at the colleges should be enough, along with a small investment of perhaps a hundred coins. As a prominent member of the Undying Society Drennan will grant me access to their work on subduing and stealing the Souls of these creatures, which will take perhaps a month of detailed study and preparation as I craft some manner of device that can affect them. Thirty seven days later you rendevouz at the beasts cave to find them gone, a sign hangs on the wall saying: Gone Hunting.

Was it the lead singer of the Human League who had such a haircut in the 80's? Phil Oakley?

There certainly seems to have been some research conducted between Animancer's and Cipher's if update #65 is anything to go by. However i'd generally agree that anybody with the interest could pursue the field of study, simply that Wizard's and Cipher's would have an advantage in practical experimentation and manipulation.

One assumes that there might be a natural symbiosis between Wizards and Animancers, in that both are trying to quantify and manipulate the Soul in a more scientific manner*, indeed the Wizards spells seem to be formulae of Soul manipulation. But like Mr Junta I assumed that they would be classless, though one supposes the protagonist might be able to dabble in these matters, and therefore any class would be viable. *According to update #74.

Mike's speech to Albatross when gloating over Sis' death, one of the greatest moments in gaming.

I suppose one could garner such a reputation by being a social chameleon, say three npc's are talking of our famed protagonist, one claims that he was a fierce and passionate individual, the other says that he was calm and logical, while yet another states that the man was creative and lost in his own world. Perhaps if we game the system, do our research and successfully read characters personalities, and alter our approach to suit that, then we will appear to be deceptive? All things to all men, though not necessarily in a negative manner. I admit that my calm and professional Michael Thornton in AP did exactly this, he appeared to be everybodies friend, at least until he grew tired of their talking ala Mina. Edit: And Mina's sister Pootie.

How long has it been since we made Iraq? I-Rack, for the busy intelligence agent on the go. No time for torture? Waterboarding a washout? Try the new I-Rack portable torture device, with voices such as Bieber, Gaga and various talent show freaks, your victim will break in mere minutes. Brought to you by Torquemada industries, where there's a will, there's a wail.

Fortification porn of the finest quality, and in general I agree with everything this gentleman states, form should generally follow function. Candlekeep was a quite nice example of this.

I personally thought the crafting of the Black Sword in Forge of Virtue was handled quite masterfully. The acquisition of the Guarda Revanche in Betrayal at Krondor was very satisfying, mostly because of all I went through to reach that point. Arcane's Valour in the first Diablo was also quite nicely implemented. The acquisition of Lilarcor drew me in, despite it being designed for Minsc to counteract his cerebral shortcomings. Both the Nameless One's arm from the Lost incarnation and Justifier were similarly satisfactory in that one had to *know* them, rather than just acquire them, though the acquisition was quite nice. Thematically sound. The crafting in Arcanum was very nice on the whole, from stumbling on a fine revolvers makings at the crash site to reshaping Vendigrothian wonders, which i'd collected from all across the continent. The teleporter pyramids of Divine Divinity were an intriguing mechanic, that was nicely introduced, along with the holy weapons and silver armour of said game. A strange thing to say but I thought the lost and difficult to find weapons and armour of Sacred were also quite satisfying, Jason's panoply etcetera. Raven's Armour from the first Witcher, Aerondight, the Moonblade and Gvalchir were all very well introduced, though sadly rendered into trash in the sequel. That said I personally became more attached to the Red Meteorite steel sword I acquired quite early on in the game, powerful, useful, and quite hard to acquire the necessary ore. The family sword in Dragon Age was quite nice to acquire and keep, though obviously that necessitated enduring the sickly sweet and yet generically dull Cousland origin, and the weapon and shield quickly became irrelevant. The introduction of the Aeducan shield was far more satisfying in the superior Dwarven noble origin, a pity the Duster had nothing similar.

When I was a lad this beatboxing thing was called sputtering, how times change. I must salute the testicular fortitude of the participants.

Finished Wolfenstein, a good game all told with some great fun and yet surprisingly tragic scenes, a very good continuation of the series. That said as a shooter I thought the new Shadow Warrior was superior in terms of gameplay and innovation, even though it's been largely ignored.