Note: While I'm very sure my beautiful legal housebreaker is a radiographer, I'm also equally sure she doesn't belong to the relevant dept of the DDR.
Bryn Shander knee-deep in brine?
There's a problem with Mod 10. From Bryn Shander to Lonelywood, from Lonelywood to the Cold Run, something doesn't seem right. Players are now getting very damn salty. It's like some angry CEO from S.A.L.T Entertainment out to hire Drew & Napier to sue yours truly just because I decided to use Park "not the 대통령" Shin-hye as the real-life blueprint for Korey (from the Neverwinter Six) and Alestrial Eliaden (of A Requiem from Winter Past fame).
The area of (dis)contention lies in the new level 145 gear. Namely the epic relic gear. Let me get the bad and ugly out of the way first. I hate this retarded decision. Not what I've said about me getting sued, but rather the absurdity behind getting a set of level 145 gear cursed with a shelf life of Taylor "gone (swiftly) in 60 secs" Swift's BGR (read: Boy Girl Relationship, not whatever RGB color model). Quite obviously, the relic gear is only worth it in the sense that you can't run the FBI without them (FBI as in Fangbreaker Island, not the feds who are now trying to figure out whether Cyric's dogma is that power at work). I really hate it. The devs better do something to modify the relic gear, so that at least we'll be comfortable with stashing our relic gear like that guy in Jay "not Mr Chow" Chou's latest MV.
And yes, I know my beautiful legal housebreaker is a Chouder, tyvm.
You don't have to be Heath
Yes, I know I've said so before. The difficulty level in the new campaign zones is now a notch higher. The enemy AI is most likely the same as Icewind Dale, but the terrain needs to be tamed. From the snowy terrain to within the confines of Bryn Shander, from the forest in Lonelywood (most likely preserved by the patron deity of Drizzt and his Cat) to taking down the troll(ing) mob instigated by the frost giants. Arylos has yet to hit Cold Run like how Yoomes Bond made his long-awaited comeback, but there are certain things meant to be learnt if you're daring enough to take on a few of Thrym's chosen ones while at Lonelywood.
1. Runes. Just don't step onto any of them. They're like the minefields surrounding the city of Fallujah. I've yet to do so, but I'm not interested to know the impact.
2. Getting stoned to death. This is Faerûn, not the world of Harry Pothead and the philosophers stoned. (hopefully, imam Zul won't see this post).
3. I can't say about Cold Run, but the frost giants in Lonelywood come as a couple. Doesn't matter if it's two men, two women, or one of each. Point is, we're talking about making war, not love.
4. The beastmaster. I really hate that fellow at times. Whatever you do, don't try to get yourself cornered. Unless you belong to the class of Lancer.
Links: [1] [2] [3] [4]
Note: Ironically, you'll see Cat's ex in Lonelywood instead of her current beau since Drizzt needs to recuperate after his super badass feat of taking down two demon lords. As for Orcus, we still have Arylos.
Note: Ironically, you'll see Cat's ex in Lonelywood instead of her current beau since Drizzt needs to recuperate after his super badass feat of taking down two demon lords. As for Orcus, we still have Arylos.
Inspired by Arylos' ex (?)
It's been a long time since I've heard James "not Sharp" Blunt. Then I heard his famous song earlier this morning on radio.
Scarily(?) enough, the angmohs from Singapore's ex-boss seemed to see him as their ideal dirge singer last time round.
While I'm not willing to disclose my stance on whether Sheallyn and Arylos do have a thing for each other, tweaking with her moveset gave me some food for thought when it comes to whether I should be more daring. No one should say I must emulate Pep "El Genio" Guardiola, but at least I may be able to emulate Eddie "the once and future knight" Howe.
Thankfully, I've laid the groundwork for Arylos boons-wise upon doing a free respec (i.e. from trapper to combat spec). It's like the late Willie Maddren setting the groundwork for Bruce "the Incredible Hulk 1986" Rioch. As a result of this (and a recent gear tweak), I may have found a way to bypass the need for Oak Skin. More on that in a future post of mine (note: I've yet to test the current build for epic Demogorgon and Temple of Tiamat).
Dealing with Orcus
I now hate this fellow. I really do. The thing with certain epic dungeons/trials is the fact that some of them are strategically favorable to the melee dps while others are more towards range-friendly. Tiamat belongs to the former, Castle Never belongs to the latter.
The first time I ran CN with Arylos, I never knew this. As a result, Orcus swung his mega weapon and Arylos got pwned. And it doesn't help that my team was known as the PPP (read: the Pew Pew Party of the AkaHoshi guild, not the People's Power Party of Singapore).
Second time round, my team got a tank. I thought I could have a decent pop at Orcus with impunity. Wrong. Again, Orcus got me again with his mega weapon.
So what did I learn as a result?
1. It's possible for a tank to get himself killed against Orcus.
2. I shouldn't have emulated Heather Chua. It's like friending Matou Shinji on FB instead of Emiya Shirou. A dumb call on a major hindsight.
One of my guildies once asked this interesting question: How do I create a guardian fighter build capable of tanking Orcus?
My view on the GF is that this is a so-called risk class. Unlike the oathbound paladin which you can pretty much spam Sanctuary (that is so long you're fast enough to pull it off since there's a brief startup animation), the GF relies more on external sources of healing (and buffing). With a good (read: decent) healer, a GF can last the distance. Just make sure of a few things.
1. Into the Fray. It's so spammable, it should be your BFF every day, not just today.
2. Dump every single damn boon point into defense>recovery>critical in this order. This is due to the GF in this current mod being more of a choice class (read: either half-dps or pure tank).
3. If you want to do a tactician spec, go iron vanguard. Swordmaster is suicide unless you're going conqueror.
4. Don't be a coward, be a knight. Knight's Challenge and Knight's Valor should be your BFFs against single boss fights (or if you're good/crazy enough, then every boss fight).
5. SOS. I'm not talking abt Save Our Souls or even sos cili roti john. I'm talking abt Supremacy of Steel.
If you're a melee dps like Arylos and Myrreas, it's not really the end of the world. However...
1. You must have a healer (preferably a virtuous devoted cleric like Cyrea Durothil).
2. You must have a tank.
3. Pls read my tips below.
If you're using trickster rogue, it's arguably easier due to equal ease in using melee and ranged dps. Even though pretty much 70% of the moves are melee so as to speak, usage of ranged powers won't really affect your damage game (read: Cloud of Steel).
If you're using great weapon fighter (either instigator or destroyer spec), just run once the monster turns to face you.
If you're using a melee hunter ranger like Arylos, just fight smart. You'll be on a constant tactical backfoot. If your tank can hold Orcus without dying, good. It means you can do what you always do best. If the tank dies, just fall back on your longbow for the rest of the fight. Be smart, don't be like Heather Chua. He's just like that arrogant and useless elitist Archibotak.
Seems that YouTube was forced to take down the English sub ver of Kiritusugu's fight against Archibotak. Little wonder why Angry Joe had a problem with the Japs last time round. Go YouTube search if you dunno what I'm talking abt. Also, Arylos and Kiritsugu think alike in the same way awesome minds think alike.
Unlike the great weapon fighter, you can't whack an Orcus once he turns around to face you. The great weapon fighter can just dash away (even for a TR, the dodge fps should be good enough to jailbreak). As for the HR, the dodge fps will NOT be good enough to jailbreak. In addition, the mega weapon swing is most likely made of anti-dodge material. In other words, you'll still get that one shot fatality even if Orcus' thing hit you the middle of the dodge/dash animation. In other words, just run away. If there's a tank, just pull Orcus' attention back to where it rightfully belongs. Period.
Let's see...
There seemed to be some unwanted consequences behind taking down the Gateway. While the game is now running smoothly (or at least far better), the whole damn thing does have the tendency to freeze upon the game starting up. It takes like 5 mins or so for my character to start moving around. Which is frustrating. To make things worse, server non-response is fast becoming a common fixture no different from certain individuals asking me "when are you getting a girlfriend?"
If there's no server non-response, I'm very sure there would be a Matrix moment where everything just froze on the spot like how those Thayan red wizards/illusionists pull off their mass area freeze. No, make that far worse. At least you'll know you're still able to move. Thankfully, I've developed the ability to make decisions under adversity. I'll have to thank my sister for streaming shows like this one below on her mobile devices daily.
And speaking of decision making while in a literal bind...
P.S: Incidentally, 諏訪部 順一 is still my ideal CV for Arylos. Coincidence? Think not lol.
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