Gromnir

enigma is so... unnecessary. it functional duplicates, in the worst ways possible, a similar multi-step puzzle quest also in the game involving the same final bad guy (used gender neutral). coulda' integrated nenio into the other quest seamlessly and avoided considerable repetition while at same time reducing the overall soul numbing tedium. but what genuine shocks us a bit is that owlcat, seeming in response to numerous player comments regarding enigma frustration, has decided to make enigma more integral to a complete run o' wotr. can't fix a perceived problem, so solution is to make certain more people will need experience the aforementioned frustration? ... wait, what? HA! Good Fun! ps with the beta update, areelu's cloak still does nothing for an angel character, and am having an issue with animal companions in tb combat as they are getting stuck during movement and/or simple not attacking at end of a move in spite o' having capacity to do so. however, when we loaded a game, we instant got 'bout eight new items added to inventory-- all those crusade battle rewards which mysteriously disappeared.

am most concerned with boss fights. almost every build we consider is specific tailored to the double handful o' improbable bloated boss fights and disproportionate difficult optional "achievement" fights. nobody comes to this board or owlcat forums with reflections 'cause they were having difficulty with a random mob o' vrocks or some such. demon lords and similar are infrequent immune to mind-affecting. go figure. however, baphomet and deskari on even core is gonna require at least an 80 for your intimidation check. an inquisitor with a level o' thug, or a dirge bard build gets us where we need to be if we wanna be confident in producing shaken and we may even achieve frightened. best intimidator we has come up with so far is an inquisitor (and a few other odds and ends) with acolyte background and high strength + decent boosted wisdom, and even that build with moss pottage meal is not 100% guaranteed to intimidate playful darkness when you first encounter or deskari in iz. seelah, sosiel and is arguable the best companions for intimidation, with sosiel our choice as the genuine winner... if you are willing to sacrifice a cleric caster level. taking a level o' thug feels like a handicap for sosiel, even if it makes practical sense. the priest has the right background for intimidation and with the intimidating presence feat along with spells such as righteous might and frightening presence, you are able to boost his strength modifier to match almost any other companion in the game. a couple build-specific feat choices and sosiel, the priest o' shelyn, improbable becomes the ultimate companion intimidator... at least such is our opinion. HA! Good Fun! ps aside, the rumored companion

patch notes is weird. with our zen archer/sacred huntsmaster, who is/were nowhere near cl 28, we did rest right after achieving mythic ten and we used the spells before/during the last three fights o' the game. our finishing o' the game and use o' the spells was post final patch. cl 28 is extreme late. keep in mind, we did the 3/17 zen archer/spirit hunter for the angel with mythic 9 ('cause am not using toybox or similar, but we did respec w/i game) and that got us to cl 26, which makes sense-- 17 +9. we were able to view level 10 spells, but if we ain't s'posed to be able to use 'em, on that build, evar, would be kinda disappointing. as aside, we did finish the game and the final three battles (technical, there were four battles, but one did not include our mc) were indeed on the ez side. as a matter o' fact, the big boss, if not the ultimate boss, had combat end following an intimidation/diplomacy check option, which were implemented kinda awkward. felt like we had missed something. whatever. oh, and gonna do a second run as an azata, likely the gnome fey speaker we mentioned. the thing is, we got an idea for an intimidator tank, but it just don't fit in our anticipated party, even as a merc. is pure cheez: one level nature oracle and one level scaled fist for the double charisma buff to ac which should not be possible in a pathfinder game. use an assimar who goes dirge bard for remaining seventeen o' eighteen levels... add one level o' loremaster. mostly charisma but am starting with 18 str to take advantage o' intimidating prowess. tested and am able to achieve a +79 modifier on intimidation checks at level 20, but might be able to do slight better. am getting greater vital strike from the one level o' loremaster. maybe too much cheez. HA! Good Fun!

internet tells us the books average +800 pages, and there are fourteen of 'em. if those weekends you spend on wot is spent literal do nothing but reading wot, then maybe a "few." HA! Good Fun!

keep in mind am not addressing quality per se. if jesus showed up at simon and schuster tomorrow and offered 'em his personal twelve volume dissertation on christianity, with each volume far exceeding 300 pages, am suspecting the editors would try and encourage the son of God to condense things a smidge, and if the set were published as-is, how many christians would then lie 'bout having actual read the whole set? am recognizing the wot series were released over a considerable period o' time, but at some point the ordinary reader had to feel like they were being punk'd, no? HA! Good Fun!

not sure if is a respec specific issue, but while it would appear druids (but not feyspeakers) and shamans may merge spellbooks with angel (not possible options during the beta,) the merging is a bit sketchy. for example, a zen archer/spirit hunter shaman with angel we resepc'd from a level 20 zen archer/sacred huntsmaster/demonslayer had a merged spellbook and a caster level o' 26, but for spell levels four, five and seven, only angel spells were in the spellbook. a drovier druid had similar (but not identical) non accessible druid spell levels. am aware respec remains buggy, so is quite possible the wonky spellbook merging for shamans and druids is not an issue save for when attempting to create such a character via respec. am also gonna hypothesize the reason for feyspeaker incompatibility is less a matter o' respec and more a matter o' the unique charisma-based casting for feyspeakers. HA! Good Fun!

you managed to finish at least a dozen o' the books? you have earned the option to call 'em anything you damn well please. as far as am concerned, the jordan estate and the book publisher should dedicate a scholarship in your name, and those like you, for the courage and fortitude you displayed when facing improbable odds. HA! Good Fun!

hadn't played since wednesday, but earlier today we did the threshold content up to the point where we achieved mythic ten, which were kinda anticlimactic as we would ordinarily have added the heavenly host sword of heaven power for our upcoming finale, but seeing as how that feature is bugged and not working... *sigh* we did get access to mythic ten spells, which might be interesting, but am not certain if there is a rest opportunity so we might memorize the groovy spells. maybe tomorrow we finish. maybe. our next wotr game is current planned to be a quirky build, but am wondering if is better to be waiting for a few azata features to get fixed. gonna go azata and do a gnome feyspeaker druid. won't be able to get weird, but every other decent illusionist spell will be accessible and we should be able to achieve impressive dc checks for those as well as evocation spells. is gonna be lighter on teamwork feats than we would like, but am not seeing a good way around that issue. is a few items which is usable only by spontaneous casters and is making us consider sylvan sorcerer, but our skill points with such a character would be atrocious. oracle with nature mystery similar gets us much o' the stuff we want, but it wouldn't be an illusionist build. choices. still gotta find missing resolve and screw our courage to the sticking place if am gonna finish our first run before halloween. HA! Good Fun!

never watched the show. when it first were released it were kinda a busy time in our life and we never gave it a chance. alfred bester? serious? the character name is alfred bester? was that something 'bout which were commented 'pon in the show or were it ignored? HA! Good Fun!

am s'posing am wondering where to draw the line on identifying the mawkish fare, particular when animated. films such as iron giant and grave of the fireflies has already been mentioned and is more than a little justification for declaring 'em maudlin. two o' our favorite animated movies both came out in 2012: paranorman and frankenweenie. were those films indulging in excessive sentimentality? arguably, but we liked 'em even so. even steinbeck got into the act with the red pony. not movie per se but a great american author when creating children's fare had a goal o' reducing his pint-sized audience to tears, which isn't that hard btw. kinda makes you wonder wtf is wrong with these people. if is animated and/or made for a younger audience and not meant sole for laughs, then there is a better than fair chance the dolphin, deer, robot, racoon, dog, best friend, imaginary friend, etc. is gonna die. arguable the greatest animated movie o' all time, albeit not in the way most reflect on the term, king kong (1933) were maudlin, which is why when dino de laurentiis (sp?) remade in 76, he observed in a pre-release interview that, "no one cries when jaws die, but when the monkey die, people gonna cry." (am apologizing if we didn't get the quote exact correct, but we didn't bother to check.) red-blooded american men can't cry when watching romantic movies, but is ok with kong, brian's song, and a small list o' similar maudlin fare. am not disagreeing with your point 'bout pixar movies btw, but am reflecting a bit and concluding that if the flick is indulging tear-jerker sentimentality and we like, then is good, but if we do not like so much, then is maudlin. as an aside, we mentioned some time past how the thirteenth warrior is a locked-in addition to our guilty pleasures list. am not gonna try and convince anybody 13th warrior is fantastic cinema, and liberties were taken in the adaptation, but we watch every year or so and never regret doing so. is still our favorite "beowulf" inspired movie, which is admitted not setting high the bar. HA! Good Fun!

“i started out of course with Hemingway when i learned how to write. until i realized Hemingway doesn't have a sense of humor. he never has anything funny in his stories.” -- elmore leonard nobody is expecting owlcat to measure themselves 'gainst hemingway, or joyce or even leonard, particular given the limits o' crpg storytelling. heck, name the shakespeare tragedy which don't have some humor. *shrug* if our only criticisms o' owlcat writing were that they tried too often or too hard to be shocking or funny and failed, then we would call that a win. nevertheless, am gonna once again point out that subtlety and crpgs are a bit antagonistic, and the wotr pnp ap in particular is not making such any easier. have elmore leonard write wotr and am suspecting there woulda been a few characters and encounters which had us groaning and/or rolling our eyes at the excess. HA! Good Fun!

*chuckle* strawman doesn't mean what you think it does. whose argument did we diminish or undermine by ascribing to them a position they had not taken? you going for irony by perhaps purpose using wrong? however, am indeed generalizing, which is all kinda logic fallacy failing and would be noteworthy if we were making a logic argument. the owlcat fanbase is literal not same as dragon age 2 or any other crpg fanbase from the past decades and logic dislikes us making equivalent the qualities o' two distinct individuals or groups w/o at least some support for why A=B. no argument from us on that point. but again am not sure if you are serious 'cause you were the guy who for some inexplicable reason opined that, "5e has been trying to get rid of Oriental Adventures," as somehow meaningful insofar as a pathfinder ap portraying the character o' rasputin in a less than favorable light, 'cause d&d what? not to mention tomb of annihilation, a 5e adventure is set in chult and and is most assured embracing exact the kinda stereotype stuff you suggest were being avoided. so, not only objective wrong, but how is such even remote related? nevertheless, is bordering on obtuse from a reasonableness pov to suggest owlcat fans is somehow unique. we did not craft the syllogism. we made a generalization which implies axiomatic that which is indeed arguable. even so, am gonna lose little sleep over worrying whether the special and unique folks who play owlcat games might be having their feeling hurt over the suggestion that too many want more o' what @bitchmartyr found disquieting. you think the generalization is unfair? fine. we didn't offer any specific proof in support o' our generalization, so your opinion is no less valid than is ours and the generalization we made, which weren't an argument per se, don't withstand logic scrutiny. happy? this isn't gonna be a recurring thing is it? have seen the pattern more than a few times since 2000. complete unrelated: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-uncover-extensive-pile-animal-and-human-bones-saudi-arabia-cave-180978375/ HA! Good Fun!

am thinking the unfortunate reality is that the most common criticisms is gonna be that whatever owlcat did to make the demon graphic, violent and disquieting, they will have not gone far enough. and please recall, in dragon age 2 there were serious and widespread complaints you were precluded from romancing your sibling. insofar as this kinda subject matter, assume the worst of your fanbase and chances are you are gonna end up giving 'em far too much credit. HA! Good Fun!

managed to convince self to play a bit more, so we got to the fight at the threshold o' the threshold. first time things were going pretty good, or so we thought. had the assassin dead and the vanguard effective neutralized, and then the guy with the lighting unloaded something which had us successful save and take 254 damage. wait, what? second time we focused on killing mr. sparky asap and things went better even if it took a while to finish everything. is nothing creative 'bout the encounter. is three sooperpowered badies and a whole bunch o' mooks. think you gave your party immunity to ability drain and fear? not so fast. does the azata spell which provides immunity to one energy source work 'gainst mr. sparky? we would not be surprised if that were a fail. is gonna be one o' those reload battles for us in the future. if we kill sparky in two rounds, chances are we will be able to beat the encounter... maybe. fail on that means reload. other option we see as viable, sorta the retro bg1 approach, would be the summons route... mindless wear 'em down with summons. oh well. maybe we play again tomorrow. HA! Good Fun!

unfortunate. helps to be specific. regardless, general displeasure with the the depiction o' rasputin in a fantasy offering is unlikely to be deemed racist... and am not sure how snow makes more or less offensive. gonna go out on a limb and am guess you aren't a hellboy fan neither? regardless, racist is one o' those buzzwords which prevents meaningful discussion in most cases, which am suspecting is kinda the point. any predictions on this thread spiraling into the abyss 'cause o' a curious criticism o' a pathfinder module? accuse o' racism is often enough to end a conversation and is all too often the functional death knell for game/movie/tv show development. am wondering if fallout could be made today, and am gonna admit to having been pleasant surprised shadowrun got developed and released. sadly, we got little hope for a future deadlands crpg. too bad. that said, if accusation is pathfinder's rasputin were racist (in part 'cause o' snow in russia) then am done with this sideshow topic, 'cause no good will come o' it. ... converse, if somebody want to talk about why a deadlands crpg needs be made, am 100% all in. HA! Good Fun!

every great wyrm of middle earth started off relative humble. and sure, what lizard with dreams o' a big pile of gold hasn't had a momentary fling with soybean investments or the like? even so, all it takes is a roll o' dirty twenties, hard work, a dream... and a bit o' luck along the way. that or you can inherit. we highly recommend inheriting. HA! Good Fun!

please explain. not general and/or vague. be specific.

is easy to forget that russians making a game in russia could be a different exercise than what you might expect from the hurdles faced by obsidian or other game developers. at the ~38:00 mark, james jacobs o' paizo stresses the importance o' making games inclusive... racial, ethic, sexual, etc. at this point the owlcat folks got uncharacteristic taciturn and subject were changed immediate following mr. jacobs' response. HA! Good Fun!

in the linked video, at ~1:26:00 mark, one o' the paizo guys asks chat and the owlcat folks what ap they would want to do next. ... first thought were we could make so much money playing poker with these particular owlcat folks. was quite obvious they didn't wanna get in trouble talking 'bout what had already been discussed internal for the follow-up release. brief discussion only referenced 1e ap material as options, but were hardly definitive. side note: the other frontrunner options for the second owlcat game were mummy mask (too much desert,) ironfang invasion (setting too similar to kingmaker,) and war for the crown (too much city content-- high resource.) am not having the patience to view the entire video in a sitting, or two... or three. HA! Good Fun! ps keep in mind is not our editorializing regarding mummy mask, ironfang and war for the crown but rather the owlcat personalities, so point out all the city content in wotr is an obvious response, but am just relaying for those who don't feel like watching all ~three hours.

the thing is, it makes sense from a paizo pov to not have 1st edition being bolstered while they is trying to sell 2e pnp products. when black isle was working on what was effective bg3, it were made kinda clear it could not be another 2nd edition d&d game, 'cause wotc had moved on from 2nd edition. assume same reasoning for paizo, yes? converse, owlcat has already invested in developing an engine which supports 1e, so what is their motivation to embrace 2e? got no idea what is the license agreement 'tween paizo and owlcat, but perhaps they is ps:t fans and both parties embraced the rule of three? *shrug* all we got is a recollection o' yulia responding to the 2e question during a beta stream, which is hardly definitive. even so, is curious paizo licensed the development o' a 1e game, much less two such titles. is reasonable to assume paizo would want 2e instead o' 1e. unfortunate, reasonable is rare a good guide for predicting human behaviour. edit: have not watched any o' this, but is paizo folks and owlcat discussing wotr and kingmaker. HA! Good Fun!

mentioned this previous, but during one o' the beta walkthrough streams, yulia chernenko(sp?), an owlcat developer, responded to a query 'bout the possibility the owlcat folks would do a second edition adventure in the future. weren't any evasiveness-- no plans or even serious consideration o' doing a second edition adventure. obviously yulia is not the ultimate arbiter o' owlcat development decisions, but is likely she has some awareness o' what is being considered for their next release, the early design stages which has no doubt already begun. HA! Good Fun!

touch ac and rays is the way we went. she has decent dex, which may be enhanced considerable, and there is a plethora o' bonus to touch attack items, resulting in her rays hitting... period. ascendant element fire is a good idea, and maybe consider taking electricity or cold late, but cold makes sense only if you got an azata run going and are able to use the waterfall spell. we coulda' done more to boost her sneak attack damage, but the one level o' vivisectionist and four levels o' arcane trickster we gave her were sufficient. mythic arsenal stuff allows you to double up the benefits from feats and such which boost a spell school and apply those benefits to another spell school, so enhance illusions for the cc and get benefits to evocation for blasting. make sure to get heighten meta magic so you are able to flood your spell slots with scorching rays (early) and hellfire rays, and as we noted, there is items which boost sonic damage and sonic is one o' the energy types least likely to be resisted. by the time you are in chapter four you are having no shortage o' metamagic rods. don't skimp on those even if they is pricey. with the ultimate finnean quest there is a functional Rod of God you will acquire, but that is kinda late game and shouldn't be part o' your build calculus. 'course is possible to do similar with ember, but nenio has access to haste, so... is mostly a function o' casters being casters in pathfinder. gets tougher for melee and ranged combatants to hit boss level characters as you level, but casters always has a way to heap on damage via touch attacks or spells which do at least half damage even on a save. the following is not directed at achilles. for people interpreting a diplomatic non-response from owlcat so it matches their expectations... warning: a smidge sweary am s'posing owlcat coulda' told you straight up that you're _______. but hey, maybe they do something complete different than the offerings which has been successful. HA! Good Fun!

am not begrudging owlcat that kinda motivation pre release. try and find ways to motivate players to experience what the developers spent so much effort creating? sure. reasonable. pre release, owlcat drones no doubt assumed that if you played enigma you would enjoy it, 'cause is unlikely owlcat meant for it to be a soul-numbing slog designed to rob you o' the will to play wotr for another minute much less endure the hours o' repetitive punishment needed to complete enigma. however, post release efforts to make unpalatable content more essential is... petty. is not as if there is a bunch o' threads at owlcat where folks dedicate sonnets to the genius o' enigma. contrary. you didn't like enigma, well guess what? you shoulda' kept your gob shut 'cause now it is essential material and there will be a real in-game cost to avoiding its completion. suckers. doesn't make sense to us. HA! Good Fun!

after our first beta run, when woljif abandoned us, we never forgave him. later we hugged it out and we told him, "it's all good," but deep down we never got over the betrayal. not spellcasting but trickery were the issue-- only camellia had requisite trickery. his absence forced camellia 'pon us for lost chapel. *shudder* henceforth, woljif has always been a reserve contributor. that said, am gonna observe by midway through the game nenio were the most dependable boss battle damage dealer for our angel run other than our inquisitor archer. we went vivisectionist/arcane trickster/scroll savant 1/4/15. hardly an optimal build. even so, is no shortage o' gear which provides touch attack bonuses, so nenio makes for a respectable blaster. is also a few items which amplify sonic damage, including a crusade relic in act three which has ear-piercing scream do 1/2 caster level d6 damage. the arcane trickster route for nenio also made so we had dependable trickery skills, so we didn't need woljiff or camellia for such, and we would rather gargle broken glass than keep camellia 'round. lose woljif hurt us the first time, but only the first time. nenio made it ez to forget 'bout woljif... though am suspecting her companion quest is gonna make infamous internet lists for years to come. almost makes us wonder if those russian guys who always seems to make the game puzzle solving youtube sites is friends with owlcat developers. owlcat creates enigma just to boost viewer traffic for a few o' their pals? am at a loss to think o' a good reason for adding such a tedious and repetitive game area, but to make it increasing vital and important is genuine baffling. HA! Good Fun!

our quandary is both azata and aeon is kinda borked. the azata sooperpowers which we would choose is not working as designed (life-bonding friendship, beneficial magic) and the two mythic spells which set azata apart is impotent, so... aivu is kinda nifty, but not enough if everything else am looking at is broken. HA! Good Fun!