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prototypelq · 5 months

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Divinity Original Sin 2 has spoiled me

I’ve played my fair share of this wonderful game before, but this year’s BG3 hype had my interest pique again, so I’ve given it another go (this time with mods, which I’ve definitely spent too much time learning how to install and make work together). And boy, oh boy, this game might just have spoiled the RPG’s for me forever.

First of all, this game has no class system. While the character creator offers you some options to choose from, those are just pretty suggestions for the beginning of the game, and even those beginner’s setups are very creative. For example, the Inquisitor preset offers you options from the Necromancy and Warfrare skilltrees (Warfare is focused on dealing physical damage, and the Necromancer has an array of ranged magic and skills to stay alive in battle longer), or a Shadowblade preset, which offers you skills from Scoundrel and Polymorph trees (Scoundrel is your rogue build skills focused on backstabbing, and Polymorph offers you abilities to morph your body into different animal-themed parts, like Chamelon Skin spell which will, predictably, make you invisible). You also, obviously, have more typical options like Enchanter (lightning abilities from Aerotheurge tree and water spells from Hydrosophist) or a Fighter (Warfrare plus armour buffs from Geomancer tree), and they are no less effective than the previously mentioned more exotic combinations.

The character-building, combined with clever enemy AI in this game makes the build-creation process extremely robust. For example, the standard Tank-Healer-DamageDealer holy triad is completely useless in this game, as the AI is clever enough to ignore the characters with the most HP and go for the low-health targets first. This simple change completely breaks the standard mould, and now the best strategy you can have is either outdamage your enemies, or dictate your own rules over the battlefield to control them.

The diversity in building is only intensified by the skills inside different trees, because almost every skilltree in this game will have its own abilities for healing, crowd control and movement. Huntsman (the ranged bow skilltree) tree has Tactical Retreat, Warfrare has Phoenix Dive, Aerotheurge has Teleport, Polymorph has Wings – all of these abilities serve the same function of assuming a better position for your character on the battlefield (which is critical in this game). This means that specializing into any skilltree will also grant you access to a lot of self-sustaining abilities and options. Plus, levelling up any skilltree will grant you additional perks, like levelling up Necromancer will give you bonus % of healing from all the damage you deal (which is an awesome trait for ANY character build really), levelling Hydrosophist will give you a bonus to all the healing and magic armour restoration you receive, or the Huntsman levels give you a damage bonus if you're on the high ground, which is great for ranged units of any kind, so there is incentive to spend some levels on those skilltrees even if you aren’t really using any skills from them. Which destroyes the rpg-triad even further.

(my mage gets shamed by the party, because she is the only one without points in Polymorph for the Wings ability, she makes do with the Huntsman's Tactical Retreat instead, because she needs the high ground damage boost)

For example, the Warfrare tree, which is crucial for any close-range build, has a lot of abilities to control your enemies, because they can Knock Down enemies with their first-level skills from the get-go, and this means the enemy loses their turn on that round of combat. Now your typical damage-warrior is actually your second-best source of crowd control abilities, and not just a monkey with a club. While your ranged-mage builds will be controlling one, two at best character from their range, your properly positioned melee fighter can make an entire crowd of enemies lose their turn. And getting your enemies to lose a turn is the only thing better than doing massive damage to them, in time you will learn how to do both and it’s great fun.

Speaking of what works wonderfully in this game, it’s time to mention the elemental system! I don’t think I’ve played Big RPG Game with an elemental system as robust as the one DOS2 has. I believe someone on the Noclip Podcast mentioned how, each battle in this game feels like it’s not just a battle against different enemies and their damage numbers, but it is also a battle for the terrain that you control. So I guess, this makes DOS2 a Splatoon predecessor?...Moving on.

For example, in the first act of the game you will stumble upon an ambush from a bunch of skeletons, problem is – there are Poison puddles all over the place. And DOS2 skeletons have ‘reverse’ healing mechanic, which means they will get damaged by normal healing spells, but they do receive healing from poison. It means that fighting skeletons with a party of not-undead/living characters can be much fun, as you can constantly cast chain healing, or Bless a big water surface to heal your party, and if the spell jumps to the undead they will be damaged constantly. The Rain spell is, arguably, the most important spell in the entire game, and it is crucial to keeping control of the elemental battlefield.

Rain will create a big water surface, and which you can use to your advantage – freeze it with Global Cooling and isolate your enemies, because walking on Icy surface can and will make them (and you) slip and fall if they try to move, and they will lose their turn.

You’re playing Lone Wolf (=solo buffed character, without companions) and YOU’RE the undead? Cast Rain and Contamination and convert the entire battlefield into a poisonous swamp that will heal you.

You’re not undead? Well, blow that poison basin with any Pyrokinetic skill and watch everything standing in it get converted into ash by the resulting explosion! The battlefield is already on fire? Add some more by creating an Oily surface with Geomancer skills to have it instantly blow up in your enemy’s face. Having trouble with your battlefield Constantly Being On Fire and losing heath fast? Reset the battlefield with Rain and create a cover for everyone, as the resulting Smoke will make it impossible to target anything farther than touch-range skills.

Blood is also a surface in this game, and extremely powerful at that. Every attack that damages the character’s health directly (meaning it bypasses their physical and/or magic armor or they have none left) creates a blood puddle under them, which you can also use.

This surface-elemental madness can also be improved upon with mods made by the community, the most noticeable example here would be Odinblade’s skilltree reworks, which rebalance the original skills a lot and add a lot of very fun additional ones. For example, the Aerotheurge tree gets an additional Conductive debuff to place on your enemies, which will increase all the lightning damage they get and will spread any electric damage to enemies around them, or the Necromancy tree gets a Hex bonus damage dealt to any enemy if their magic armour is gone. Etc, etc, please install Odinblade’s mods they level up the gameplay to new hights.

I’ll also admit here that, while I’ve spent a lot of hours in this game, and was quite invested in the story of my companions and the main quest, it’s…not the best way to play the game. Don’t play this game for story. The story is very good when it gets going, but it will be spread like extremely uneven butter of maybe 2-3 final hours over a 20+ hours of each Act as your bread. Play this game for the extremely versatile gameplay and the amazing systemic nature of it, then exploit the game to hell and back.

Sneak into an arena of magic golems and pickpocket their energy cores, so they die immediately. Use Surface transmutation to move a bunch of lava to a boss arena and place it under his feet to kill it instantly. Talk to a turtle in a dungeon, to learn that she is in love with her neighbor – a rat, and find a way to bring them together. Equip a new ring, only to find out it’s cursed, it sets debuffs on you, you cannot unequip it as it became smaller around the finger and search for a solution.

This game is about finding clever and funny ways to solve problems/quests, and that is super fun to do in DOS2. Also, really, the elemental and class-less rpg system of this game spoiled me so hard, I think I might have some trouble in the future adapting to another class-based rpg game after this xD. Anyway, talk to animals, upgrade your persuasion and take Beast into your party, he is hilarious.

#wheeeeee finally done this post #like I have games i want to play but instead i suddenly spent what around 70 hours into dos2???#no regrets #guys i love the magic system of dos2 so much #seriously dos2 is great check it out if rpgs interest you in any way shape or form #(gently holds your hand) isometric view is not that bad I will guide you through to acclimate to it easier let's go #im super glad i revisited it with mods too! modding my beloved I will shape the game to highlight my favourite parts in it #this is not my code but the game is my copy and my playground xD #dos2 #divinity original sin 2 #beast is the best companion i take no criticism #sebille is second best she's a great murder elf bff #lohse is the top player character pick her lines Rule #larian studios

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indatsukasa · 1 year

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The Grim Reaper Waiting with Cluster Amaryllises and Fog

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carbohydratechild · 5 months

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how to watch the 2005 reboot of doctor who in the correct order (more or less)

i couldn't find a good enough list for my friend, so i made my own using everything i could find! i put all of the sources i used at the end of the doc.

many articles skip certain mini-episodes and specials. lists that show up on google can be intimidating and confusing, or lackluster, so i tried to make it comprehensive and pretty!

i also took the time to find the best links for everything not on bbc iplayer!

it could save beginner viewers so much frustration and ensure that they actually get to see these wonderful mini-episodes!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14zyvAC9PFwOhQ3Epho73OtlUnL33tusm03SO3wKDs8I

i didn't include classic who or anything outside the realm of official/official-adjacent video because i'm not really qualified to and it's outside the scope of this particular list.

some of the decisions for the order and for what was included/excluded are my own informed opinions, but feel free to disagree and i'll change things if i'm convinced! it's not technically chronological or even perfectly by release, but that goes out the window with a time travel show on this scale! this is the order that makes the most sense. also, i didn't add the release years of things because it would've been too confusing with the sheer amount of stuff.

please feel free to take full use of it and spread it around as much as you want! i think it's SO GOOD and i had to share it with the world!

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carryonsimoncarryonbaz · 6 months

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9 Books

thanks for the tag @aristocratic-otterA! I'm so behind on these posts! I love talking about the books I love so I had to do this one first!

series will be a single entry!

My favorite books, in no particular order:

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. One of the first long fantasy books I ever read. My copies have accompanied me to university and through every move. Life changing. My entry into fandom. A constant since childhood.

The Simon Snow Series by Rainbow Rowell. Another life changing set of books. I can't tell you how much Simon and Baz mean to me.

The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. Yes, another Tolkien book. One I read for the first time at 11 but didn't truly appreciate until decades later.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan. Fantasy. Modern times. Snarky main characters. Sign me up.

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall. The book that got me out of my 2020 pandemic reading slump, for which I am eternally grateful. Oliver and Luc forever.

The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

A Room with a View by EM Forster.

Bonus recs: Anything by Lex Croucher. Anything by Alexis Hall. Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus Trials of Apollo books. Gaiman and Pratchett's Good Omens.

So tagging 9 people: apologies if you've been tagged already, I'm weeks behind on this.

@penpanoply @letraspal @stardustasincocaine @meenawrites @artsyunderstudy @carryonvisinata @bazzybelle @ninemagicks @amywaterwings

#nine books #simon snow series #the lord of the rings #the silmarillion #in other lands #the chronicles of narnia #the lions of al-rassan #the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy #boyfriend material #a room with a view #favorite books

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aroanthy · 3 months

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revolutionising the world w my nanami video essay someday i promise you guys. in the meantime this is a playlist of daise approved utena video essays if you even care. i have um’d and ah’d about including the clear and sweet aou analysis series bc i think it’s wonderful in so many ways but do disagree with the fundamental read of the movie so. ehh. my general rule for including something on this playlist is ‘the analysis must be considered, somewhat original, something that i either agree with or think is valuable to keep in mind’. if there was less ‘the series isn’t as good’ and half-reaching at what my interpretation of aou is, then that aou series would probably be on here. i do recommend it but it just doesn’t feel right to have it on here sorryyy

#what else do i recommend. there are fun podcasts #i listened obsessively to the shadow play gays during my a levels. like literally that’s what i was thinking about going into my exams #absolute destiny a podcast has some great moments and some utterly baffling ones #ive not finished listening to the rgu and aou eps of wizards vs lesbians but enjoyed them so far #vrai kaiser’s guide is also wonderful #i hate the noralities videos and those la duellist videos are v lacking imho. but that’s just me!!!!! love and light #oh also just go peruse the empty movement essays. some of them are rubbish and some of them are fucking phenomenal #we view the palace perspectives as required reading in this house despite taking such fundamental issue with some of its arguments #dais.txt

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weidli · 1 month

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would be very funny to me to introduce a bunch of americans who are used to the constitution being treated as a gift from god that's very hard to change and is holy Because it's almost never changed and has been in operation in nearly the same form since 1789 to the way the swiss constitution (last total revision in 1999, there have been several hundred direct democratic votes on possible changes to it since 1848, all you need to suggest a change is hundred thousand people with voting power who'll sign the suggestion) works

#i think about it every time we talk about volkainitiativen in öff. recht sorry it's So fucking funny to me #american view of the constitution is like oh this ancient unassailable thing and every change to it is earth moving #and swiss people are like ehhhhh should we put in a rule fining dog owners for not picking up dog poop in public parks?#what do you think guys? show of hands please #i'm not saying one way of doing things is inherently Better (there's some fucked shit in the swiss constitution Because the voting #population can do whatever with it (ius cogens aside) see for example 72/3 minarettverbot or all the bullshit around 121a) it's just #very interesting to me #i also think it's fun when i read works of fiction #often fanfic #that take place in alternate universes idk scifi sentinel/guide fantasy whatever introduction of magic you wanna do #that results in the author making up a legal system including a constitution #and it's just Very Obvious that the author's never encountered a different concept of thought around constitutions than the american one #again not bad necessarily! but fascinating to me #iuris

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bleaksqueak · 1 year

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Never mind, send her back.

Today's Page

Read from the start

Support us and pick up some goodies

#comic #webcomic #solivaga #there's a whole extra appended guide for dealing with wards thanks to her #some slight cultural shift in how reaper uniforms are viewed #might be an issue

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charlesemersonwinchesteriii · 10 months

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happy bomb in a tribble tuesday

#STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE 9 #BEST LINE FROM BEST EPISODE #I started it and then when I saw what they were doing I GASPED ALOUD was like pointing at the screen and going oooh woahhhh so cool!!!!#and then I immediately went back and watched The Trouble With Tribbles so I would get what was going on lol #I love DS9 but sometimes there is like. pre-work u have to do before viewing certain episodes. and nobody warns u about it #somebody should put together a guide or sth for those of us who don't wanna watch all of TOS and TNG beforehand #Starky's Original Posts #can't imagine how lost I'd be if I hadn't watched a couple hours-long Star Trek video essays before starting the show omfg #DS9 is so fucking funny bc they will catch u up to speed if u forgot sth from last season but if u didn't see TNG ur on ur own #Miles out of nowhere: well Worf that's just because you hardly see your son!#Hapless DS9-only viewer: WORF HAS A SON????? WH--#also I love how much DS9 hates its companion shows. Picard killed Sisko's son. The doctor from Voyager ruined Julian's life.#STAR TREK ON STAR TREK HOSTILITY #it fucking loves TOS though as seen from this episode #which is just the perfect punchline to it all. perfect no notes.#in conclusion society if Garak got to see Julian in that little TOS uniform getup..............

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mightydyke · 7 months

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Looking at different reincarnated souls of the Shaperaverse and trying to find what the different versions of one soul have in common.

The Companion Soul is Alexander, Annabel, John and Mascot 3000. The first thing that struck me is a similarity in the family dynamic between Alexander and Annabel: their parents have expectations for them that they have to live up to, and (possibly?) face abuse if they don't. For Alexander, it's being part of the mafia, and for Annabel it's being a scientist. A similarity I noticed between Annabel and John is Mad Science as a coping mechanism for grief, although Annabel is doing the mad science (raising Jasper from the dead) whilst John is having the mad science done to him (being turned into a cyborg). Mascot also has mad science done to them (being turned into an iPad). They also all have certain coping mechanisms; maths and science for Annabel, alcohol for Alexander, sci fi comics for Mascot and murdering rebels for John.

There's also their relationship to the Saviour Soul, which is a pretty defining characteristic. Annabel, Alexander and John first of all seem almost antagonistic to the Saviour Soul. Annabel raised Jasper from the dead, Priscilla sends him back. Alexander initially tries to kill Alice, John and Constance are on opposite sides of a civil war after he abandons her. However, Annabel also sent Jasper back when she realised it was what he wanted, essentially doing the same thing Priscilla did but without sacrificing herself, Alice and Alexander become lovers, John and Constance recognise each other as father and daughter and reunite. They mostly have a close relationship to the Saviour Soul (expect for Annabel who died before Priscilla was born). They've been the Saviour Souls' great-grandmother, lover, father and companion who we initially think is a half-sibling via reincarnated but that turns out to be false.

Also it's interesting that Brija is the only Saviour Soul who doesn't have a Companion Soul.

#Shaperaverse #Dolls of new albion #room beneath new Albion #new Albion radio hour #new Albion guide to analogue Consciousness #just some thoughts I'm not sure where I was going with this #For the mascot I think the sci fi novels are a coping mechanism for being trapped in an iPad #Because they view themselves as the main character as a human who isn't in an iPad

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grinchwrapsupreme · 6 months

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character thesis tbh

#there's also the peter pan syndrome and the messiah complex and the imposter syndrome and so on but like this is It #the righteous gemstones #trg #kelvin gemstone #idk why-#no i know why i'm thinking of him again i'm literally watching w*rkaholics lmao #god i miss kelvin #doesn't want space but unable to connect with anyone living in an empty house etc #doesn't know how to interact with someone without the role of religious leadership to guide him etc etc #desperate to keep around the one person he views even remotely as a friend etc etc etc

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icouldhyperfixatehim · 6 months

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i am so funny, i say, out loud, pressing play on a rewatch of why r u? (thailand's version)

#my mental health...she's...how you say...in the toilet #anyway i'm going to watch one of the most confusing productions ever made. again. this time knowing what i'm doing.#can't even find a viewing guide to help me out with where to splice in the saifahzon story eps so #lets play roulette babes :)#why r u?

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aliceofclover125 · 4 months

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On the topic of more interactions I'd want from BG3: revisiting Gale's comment about transactional relationships with the gods

I play a tempest cleric, and the dialogue option I chose was that not all of us have such a transactional relationship with our gods—to which he replies that there still has to be SOMETHING u want in return for your faith

Playing Durge brings that interaction into a whole different light, bc that's what Durge is stuck in with Bhaal. But in every single situation of transactional relationships, whether with a god or not, the person giving has too much taken. They're used and discarded when they're no longer of use. Gale and Mystra. Astarion and Cazador. Shadowheart and Shar. Lae'zel and Vlaalkith. Wyll and Mizora. Karlach and Gortash. Orin and Bhaal. Durge and Bhaal. Durge and the Emperor. All of them are nothing but transactions that benefit one and not the other—and our protagonists are absolutely fucked over by it

And then, by contrast, u have relationships where nothing is expected, and these characters thrive. Shadowheart and Selûne. My cleric Durge and their goddess Mielikki. Astarion and Durge. Lae'zel and Durge. There's a freedom gained and a space for healing when a relationship exists out of a selfless desire to simply help someone. To just be friends

It's such a GREAT contrast and I wish we could revisit that and have Gale realize it too

#Mym speaks #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #text post #bg3 spoilers #i have A Lot of feelings about this #Durge prays to Mielikki for such small favors and she LISTENS and GRANTS THEM #all bc Durge holds unwavering faith in Mielikki #Durge asks for help to deal with a poisoned drink? she grants them advantage #Durge asks Mielikki to help Mol win a chess game against Raphael? she gently guides Mol's hand to victory #and depending how u want to view it #Durge can pray for protection against the Harpers in the Shadowlands #during the whole misunderstanding at the inn #and who just happens to show up? Mol #Mol who knows Durge and knows they're good and kind and defends them against Jaheira #Mol who returns the favor Durge granted them unknowingly by saving one of her kids #idk man it's just. really good

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