Nonek

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.

He still wanted to pork his own daughter, just saying.... That said Nilfgaard is the bad guy in the sense of the country itself, It isn't like the Northern Kings are all that nice either. Heck in my Witcher 2 playthrough I will carry into Witcher 3 let's just say Geralt wasn't quite as innocent of Kingslaying as he could have been...... >_> He never wanted to, as a wise man he simply saw the benefit in accruing the power inherent in the prophecy, especially considering the stability of the throne that Duny knows all too well, however he turned aside from this for Moral reasons. In the crucial moment he made the right choice, I trust him more because of this, not less as I stated. Besides totalitarian empire or feudal monarchy, Geralt will still be a reviled mutated freak.

And I think it would have been better if you could hear them out, go "wait a minute... this actually kinda makes sense", then shrug and let them do whatever they were planning to do You wanted to let their enslaved Dragon eat you? That's a bit silly, I mean i'm fine with helping Sile, but i'm not commiting suicide for them. Edit: Though personally I think they were just as short sighted as the rest of the northern monarchs, barring Radovid, to be raising rebellion in Aedirn with Nilfgaard practicaly salivating on the norths doorstep.

Except that he was just working for someone else. As has always been the plot with the Witcher the real enemy is Nilfgaard, and as usual they are pretty much winning. Nilfgaard isn't my Geralt's enemy, Emhyr proved his good intentions the last time they met and my Witcher has no interest in politics or loyalty to the north. In fact as Ciri's father i'd say that there's a degree of respect there, especially after his decision to abandon prophecy and power for the sake of morality. Edit: Now the Aen Elle, those I would say are Geralt's enemy.

True enuff, some of them were. A pity that they were designated antagonists Personally I thought that was a bonus, I like good and challenging antagonists, and the Lodge ladies were not my enemies at any point merely an obstacle to overcome when they tried to raze Loc Muinne. And I judged their desire to back (and manipulate) Saskia's usurpation as a largely moral one, certainly just as worthy as any of the Northen Kingdoms feudal monarchs. If i'm defeating tired tropes or McGuffin slaves the victory is hardly sweet, more pitiful and pointless. Another reason why I respected the Viper as an antagonist, he bested competition that was in and of itself fearsome, and could be said to have won the game simply with Foltest's assassination.

A pity if the world does not contain bawdy houses and strumpets, not for the titillation factor, as i'm not particularly attracted to pixels or text descriptions, but for the depth and cohesiveness of the world as a whole. One can imagine doxies and madames being excellent sources of information and possible informants, especially if they're an unusual take on the profession. As I said earlier the crowded streets of Sigil spring to mind in Torment, personally I found that implementation very well done, especially in terms of fleshing out the harsh, hopeless nature of the hive. Then again that was hardly explicit, it did a lot with a little, the hallmark of good design I suppose.

Can you name a male NPC in The Witchers or other mainstream RPG's which do better? For myself I can find few male characters in the Witcher who can match Philippa and the other ladies of the Lodge, Letho obviously and Iorveth and Roche as your primary allies. However the whole plot of Assassins of Kings is partly the work of the Lodge, from their attempted coup in Aedirn to Nilfgaard's agents using this to fuel their own plans, they show admirable self motivation, intelligence and ambition. This is perhaps best displayed in the Philippa scene where she emerges from the sickbed of Saskia, all we get is a small smirk, but it's clear on a replay that she has discovered the Virgin Maids true nature and is altering her plans to account for this. You don't often get female characters acting with such cunning in modern games, where they usually simply follow the protagonist around for years at a time without pay or any personal considerations. Of course Triss being kidnapped and cut out of the goings on does limit her effectiveness, but we do see that this was just a quirk of fate interrupting her investigations of the Lodge that she helped form. The Sorceress is human and vulnerable like anybody else in the games, and just like Geralt repeatedly needing her aid in the first game, where she saved his life three or four times as I remember, she now needs anothers aid. This doesn't make her useless, merely human to me. She displayed enough strength in the first game, saving Geralt repeatedly, forming the alliance that would take down Salamandra and one assumes bringing Foltest back to the capital when Adda's motivations became clear. Overall I thought the ladies of the Witcher were potent, independent and clever, and even when they slept with Geralt retained their independence. They did not need his mutated organ to *cure* them, in the strangely distasteful manner that many games advocate. Edit: A pity that we never got to see Dol Blathanna or Enid.

To be honest I thought the Witcher handled its subjects quite well, in that it approached them in the manner of a bawdy romp, a somewhat Chaucer-ish manner that was to me rather endearing. Sex, flirting, promiscuity and ribald tales all handled with a sly wink and a good helping of ridicule. Maybe it is because I was brought up on Chaucer's tales, my English heritage or simply that there's a certain joy in lifes more fun pursuits, which I think the Witcher captured quite well rather than the puritanical tittering of say Bioware, which always seemed more schoolboy-ish. Though that impression may just come from the moronic characters of said games. What was nice for me is that this did not clash too much with the masterfully done tragedy of the Witcher, with Geralt longing for a life he cannot have, his guilt at failing young Alvin, and the gut wrenching conclusion of that whole episode. As well as of course the oft discussed theme of monstrousness, as encapsulated by the discussion with Mr Chivay. To be honest I didn't even mind the little masturbatory jokes in each of the sex cards of the first game, the gratuitous felne shots, the lady choking the chicken, the woman fondling the coin purse etcetera, but then again i'm old and of a rather laid back nature. Prone more to laughter than outrage with every passing year.