Some thoughts on my Neverwinter Six [plus 1]...

Firstly and foremost, I decided that any personal creativity when it comes to the Neverwinter Six gaming concepts will be classified under The Skald and His Goddess. Perhaps I may end up doing 2 posts in one day, who knows?

In other news, I decided to spend the weekend doing my knockout round analysis for this year's Euro.*
*This statement was actually written N weeks ago. Which says a lot on my ability to procrastinate.

And in the last news, I decided to do a rewrite of A Requiem from Winter Past first. This is my own attempt to challenge myself. If things go well (or even better than expected), then I may end up scrapping my current plans in order to refocus. Yeah, I know my statement sounds like an American politician...

It's either that or I'll really jump straight into Dusk and Steel. :o Coming across a recent article on IS really gave some ideas (and it doesn't really "help" that Flayne Iceburn will most likely be [technically] orang melayu).

My response to the Protector's Jubilee

Somehow or another, it seems that the last Respen Portobello event may have created an absolute monster. The Siege of Neverwinter this time round was actually better than the previous ones, ditto for this year's Protector's Jubilee. However, my vote still goes to Respen Portobello. Granted the difficulty may have increased slightly, but the variation of the Respen Portobello dungeons is better (the only bummer lies in the Drizzt bug in Strange Things at the Burrow Dawn Inn). And that's not to mention as well a French speaking drider (note that I didn't say French drider because I'm sure there are plenty of my fellow local S'poreans who know how to speak French).

Personally, the only challenging aspect lies in protecting the foreign merchant in the stronghold map. And trust me when I say it's quite hard if you play your cards wrong. One thing I noticed is that even with T1 gear, your lvl 70 character may not be good enough to last the distance. Unless you have an effective way to do AoE offense, you better not try this solo next year lest you end up looking like Han Sulu instead of Han Solo.

Basically, nothing changed apart from how the currency is distributed (i.e. you may not even earn enough to get a Travelling Entertainer for 10 Commemorative Figurines). If you wanted to get additional Protector's Bounty, Whispering Caverns would be the way to go (i.e. the drop rate was absurdly high). However, your chances of scoring high-end loot can be quite dodgy. Not to mention as well that whatever you get is bind on pick up.

Until last night or so, I only realized that it's possible to get a coalescent ward this way (needless to say, my Feytouched enchantment is currently on greater).*

*This final statement is terribly outdated. I accidentally burned my rank 10 Brutal and greater Feytouched no thanks to my own lapse of memory. As it turned out, my overall item lvl got nerfed. Actual gameplay wise though, it doesn't affect me much since epic enchantments don't really affect the game on a major scale unless you get them beyond the perfect rank (preferably transcendent).

Celebration of Lliira

Basically, nothing has changed since the last edition. Get fireworks, plant fireworks, set off fireworks. Same old SOP, pretty much the same old reward. For those out to get a Starry Panther mount, you all may need to get Lliira's Bell first. That's the only high-end practical item available in the event. While the bell may not be really useful for tanks and healers, it's def useful for dps characters. If you can do the dailies without missing a day, then you'll def have at least enough Lliira's Favor for a bell. Currently, I'm farming the Favors for Arylos and Korey. If I can get 2 of those, most likely it will mean I'm gonna give them to Korey and Sheallyn. Tbh, the Starry Panther mount is mainly for cosmetic purposes (just like pretty much all the uncommon mounts since they can only run at 50% speed bonus like the common ones).

Correction: The damn bell costs 25 favors. Wow. Just wow.

2 x Enchantment/Runestone event

This is basically my best chance to try maxing out Arylos' Lantern of Revelation to legendary status. For the entire event, you'll most likely see him at Spinward Rise. And speaking of Spinward Rise, I'm already more than halfway done to get the Howling Weapon set. The only tricky part? Air Cult Assault may have been upped in terms of difficulty.

You see, the good thing about using a Seeker's Wand in the relevant zone lies in having a damage boost. Without the wand,  not only is it more difficult to get a mote, basically the fight will be far tougher as well. I actually tried the difference between using a wand and not using one. I ended wiping Elemental Assault with both eyes closed, I also ended up having a consistent win rate for Air Cult Assault. Not anymore now.

While I still don't have any problem in wiping Elemental Assault (albeit the AI seems harder to kill compared to before), Air Cult Assault is where you'll have a great difficulty in doing it solo. Already, the Grand Hurricane was problematic enough due to high dps and defense. In fact, this hulk can just wipe off 80% of your HP with his own Falcon Punch. iirc it's very easy for him to kill you in a one-on-one. He's no ranged fighter, but his melee reach is nothing short of crazy. The first wave has never been a problem (just like other heroic encounters with more than one wave of enemies). Once the second wave arrives, that's where you'll most likely start to sweat over your chances of surviving. If you're playing a tank, then it may not be that bad. If you're using a dps character, you better start running around in circles once the boss comes out. The tricky thing about dealing with mobs at Spinward Rise lies in their overall mobility. They can cover ground in a matter of seconds, it's virtually impossible to pull apart the mob. The reason why is that the enemies will always converge into a group. Once they do so, it's nigh impossible to pull them apart. This is true for both Elemental and Air Cult heroic encounters. However, the air zephyrs do take a lot more damage than the average air cultist under this situation. In addition, the High Skyweaver is only capable throwing bolts, knocking you back, and teleporting himself backward. Basically, it means you can easily wipe the mob even after they managed to close ranks. It also means you won't have a problem dueling the High Skyweaver (i.e. his damage game sucks). As for the Grand Hurricane, let's just say that he enjoys ganking people.

Ideally, you should be having T2 Elemental gear instead of the normal T2 gear if you want to have a decent shot at Air Cult Assault. Period. Also, please use overload enchantments.

A few things learned so far against the Grand Hurricane

Firstly and foremost, be prepared to lose the dps fight. Unless you can effectively CC him on a consistent basis (i.e. 6 stacks of chill if you're a control wizard), there's no way you can win the dps game. While the trapper may be seen as the best CC build, it must be noted that there's only this much Crushing Roots can do. In fact, playing a trapper means your CC game is quite likely to be better within a party rather than running solo (after all, hunter rangers do have one of the best AoE game. CC duration, not so simple).

Secondly, you have the choice of taking out the mob or the skyweaver first. Because everyone will be chasing after you for the entire fight, it's far better for you to deal with whatever nearest to you. You'll need a good AoE game to deal with them. Another thing to note is the difference in terrain. This is very important because in Avia Landing, you'll have plenty of space to avoid getting ganked. In Thunderhead Reach, you'll run the risk of getting effectively screwed.

For Avia Landing ver, you'll need to do two things before engaging the fight. First is to get rid of the cultists near the entrance. Secondly, get rid of the axe beaks. The latter is definitely more important as these bloody diatrymas can destroy you in an instant if they gank you in the middle of the heroic encounter.

In Thunderhead Reach, everything will be about your gear. Due to you getting caught between a wall and a high place, you can only hope to run and snipe off the most convenient target(s) available. For me, that means spamming Forest Ghost. Alternatively (if you're using a stormwarden), you can just do a cluster CC and a Cold Steel Hurricane to end things off. Done correctly, it can incur massive casualties on those terrorists (c'mon, guys and gals. You think the Cult of the Dragon and Cult of Elemental Evil ain't terrorists? Get real). In fact, this is quite likely the most effective tactic if you're running the fight with a stormwarden trapper. I've yet to try Korey out for this fight in this particular terrain, but I suspect pulling off a Seismic Shot will help a lot.

A/N: Above tactic is effectively a case of boom or bust though. In other words, you better not whiff the attack lest you do this below minus the swag.

And speaking of respawn...

I may have made the wrong assumption about the revival effect once your Soulforged effect triggers. Originally, I assumed that there's an additional damage immunity during the 3 secs duration. This is caused by my previous fight against Baphomet where my Soulforged status actually brought me back to full health within that duration. I actually told a fellow guildie about my discovery. Only to find out later on that I've just unearthed my own Piltdown Man.

Cella, you're officially notified about my error.

So what does this mean for me apart from a blunder far greater than the Piltdown Man scandal? Basically, I discovered one thing.

Not so recently, I got myself a cat. I named it Crytt. Not because of Cryptic, but because I've seen too many (?) tasteless names inspired by the word crit. When I relegated Styvia to the bench, I was caught in a certain bind. Should I give Crytt that Ring of Loyal Commander? There's no way for me to test whether the 10% outgoing heal bonus will work on Arylos. In using an augment companion, there are two possibilities.

1. The outgoing heal bonus only works on other allies because augment companions are counted as part of your character instead of just a companion.

2. The outgoing heal bonus actually works on yourself and others since augment companions work exactly like leader companions in this context.

Scenario 2 is basically the reason why I stand up and fight again at full health against Baphomet. Those who are using Soulforged like yours truly, you're officially notified about my success.

A/N: I suddenly got a crazy idea concerning Ilyath Le'Quella. If you don't know who he is, he's basically Cyrea's ex.

Lifesteal and Bhaasmond Taran

As if the whole outgoing heal thing is not wacky enough, there's this effect of lifesteal on temp HP. I tried it before, only accidentally. It's actually possible for your character to proc lifesteal when executing attacks that will confer temp HP as well. As an oathbound paladin bulwark on an oath of protection (yes, I know this sounds cumbersome and pompous), I enjoy using Templar's Wrath. iirc it's very easy to see whether this tactic works or not. Whenever you hit with this move, you'll gain a certain amount of temp HP equivalent to 300% of the damage dealt. Mathematically, it's possible to get 200% HP in total. In reality, things don't work this way. Once you get the lifesteal guild boon, however, that's where the fun starts. In other words, it's actually possible to get a whopping 200% HP in total via a synergy of Templar's Wrath and the lifesteal boon. Utterly crazy if I say so myself. Unless it's possible for Bhaasmond to proc Soulforged beyond getting that one-shot fatality Valindra is so famous for (and I really hate her for that), I most likely won't change lifesteal boon for the defense boon.

Cyrea and her Bomb

This has got nothing to do with terrorism. After all, the Seldarine will never endorse terrorism (okay, not all since Fenmarel Mestarine and Shevarash don't believe in playing nice against Lolth). Cyrea's god is her people's god, this god goes by the name of Corellon Larethian.

Originally, her default companion is Aesir. However, the thing with leader companions is that they automatically confer combat advantage like augment companions (read: only specific leader companions have a decent to good damage game. Don't believe me, go ask Esmure). Only difference is that an augment companion counts as part of your character when it comes to getting hit.

When I first got Wylson Bomb via last year's Simril, I orginally wanted to name him Wylson Bong. The reason why being that I suddenly felt like trolling anyone going by the name of Wilson Wong even though I know I'll end up stepping on more than just one Wilson Wong's toes. However, the profanity filter actually prevented me from using the B-word (if you don't know what is a bong, you're either blissfully ignorant or you actually buat bodoh after smoking your ganja). So there you have it. Wylson Bomb instead of Wylson Bong.

I'll be trying out how this experiment goes. Due to charisma being a secondary key stat for a devoted cleric, what it means is that combat advantage actually plays a major part in Cyrea's damage game (or just about any DC).

A/N: To demonstrate the prevalence of the FCC, the game actually lists the name of this person below as a form of profanity.

Running Man=Arcane Trickster

Thanks to Sheallyn Melarn, Myrreas has at last become an arcane trickster. All in all, I like what I'm seeing so far. Sigil of the Controller is absurdly effective for a trickster rogue. The stats are top tier for just about any TR build (i.e. critical hit, power, and control resist in that order). Even more so if your choice of paragon skill tree happened to be a scoundrel. The problem with using a scoundrel lies in dazing being the only form of CC available more than half of the time. With this magical gizmo, the frozen effect adds a whole new dimension to an otherwise one pattern CC game. Against dragons, this will maximize the scoundrel's dps game. Even if you're using a saboteur or executioner, this sigil can also go a long way in the form of that much-needed jailbreak (something which every whisperknife will want desperately unless they happen to be proficient in using Vicious Pursuit. Which is one of, if not the hardest move to master).

Defensively, the scoundrel is the closest thing to a tanking rogue. As such, it's only common sense to try upping lifesteal. In this sense, the Seldarine set can work a whole lot of wonder if you happen to choose Fey Thistle as your final Sharandar boon. As a result, I don't have to dodge spam. Something which quite obviously a TR has never been famous for.

A/N: The reason why I use Running Man as the title should be self-explanatory.

Proof that I think like an Italian?

One thing I realized abt the control wizard is this: I can't do without Shield. One of my greatest problems lies in the AoE strategy if I choose to slot Shield into Sheallyn's spell mastery. I tried Icy Terrain, it actually works much better than I expected. It's like playing Antonio "Il Bestia" Conte's Azzurri on PS4. You have an effective defense, you also have an effective counter-measure in order to nullify the greatest weakness known to every ranged dps. All that is left will be an effective outlet of lightning damage.

A/N: Okay, that last part has been fixed due to me fixing myself earlier on.

Add A/N: Chill Strike has to be the best encounter power I've ever messed around with.

More add A/N: Assuming I will stick with the lifesteal boon Bhaasmond is so good at currently, it means I may opt for Endless Consumption as Sheallyn's final Dread Ring boon.

MOM

Not the Ministry of Manpower, but rather the Mistress of Manipulation. Not only is this the personality of Kariss Locras, it's also reflected on the Magistrate's Patience insignia bonus. You have that damn psychic damage effect getting proc upon crit (assuming that you don't end up healing any ally that is), you also have insignias of mastery aplenty. Since scourge warlocks have the highest, if not at least one of the highest base crit game, it means an absurd amount of dps potential being added on someone with an absurd dps game to start with. This can be a life-saver for many a scourge warlock since the aggro monkey aspect has yet to be removed (and given the nature of synergy here, it's actually better for the devs not to do this).

With Esmure as her Battlefield Medic, it means a much higher survival game. However, there still has to be a defensive aspect to her gameplay in case things go awry. It's called Blades of the Vanquished Army and Hand of Blight.

A/N: Like Sheallyn, Endless Consumption is a viable option. Which also means I may opt for Rampaging Madness instead. *shrugs*

Currently in progress

Korey is still a work in progress as the title suggests blatantly. Concerning this character, I'm chuffed for two reasons. The first one is that I doubt I'll be served a lawyer's writ from Drew & Napier just because S.A.L.T Entertainment has gotten extremely salty over my insane antics. In other words, she looks nothing like the "real deal." The second reason is that she (i.e. Korey, not Park "not the president" Shin-hye) made me realized I'm more of a Xavi than a Messi in terms of gaming technique. Yes, I can adapt to circumstances. Let me see the situation from afar and I can cripple the entire army for you. Well, sorta anyway.

Already Thorn Ward is looking like a match winner for her. To add in more fun, my current plan for her dps game lies in a focus on critical hit. Unlike her mentor who is more into power, this Koryoan lass is all about azure enchantments (plus a rank 7 Brutal since I need to free up some much-needed inventory space). Originally, using Marauder's Escape was fun. Choosing the pathfinder paragon route turned out to be twice the fun. While I'm still coming to grips with using Hunter's Teamwork/Careful Attack, Ambush/Bear Trap has officially scored plenty of stars for me. The offensive setup is very simple, yet so deadly. I can just fire a Constricting Arrow with a Thorn Ward thrown in immediately afterward. The damage game has just gotten more insane. Just like how my brain works. Just don't ask me whether there are people worse than me.

A/N: I nearly forgot to mention the presence of Longstrider's Shot and Cordon of Arrows. Then again, Korey is still a long way from hitting lvl 60-65.

Add A/N: Got a War Dog, gave it to Korey. 6.5% threat reduction plus a maxed out Battlewise feat, 12.5% threat reduction in total. Stillness of the Forest anyone?

More add A/N: Nearly forgot to add in the fact (?) that I managed to create Korey as an actual Koryoan. President Park should just give Greenwood Ed some kind of national commendation. After all, he may have first made Koreans somewhat famous to all the white kids for all we know.

P.S: Seems that the spelling for Koryan has changed to Koryoan. Damn the wiki.

Add P.S: The fact that I gave a War Dog to Korey should never be seen as racism.

Final P.S: Because my creativity had hit a ceiling (most likely due to fatigue), said War Dog was named Lotte. Scarily enough, that's before I caught wind of this. I know Arylos was guilty of spurning Beshaba, but Sune never staged a reprisal just because she received the same rejected status as well.