Thankfully, the parachute payment given this time round is quite hefty. I've read somewhere that the amount actually outstrips the prize money Chelsea won for winning the league during Mourinho's first tenure as the boss.
Which now comes that 14 million dollar question:
Assuming that I'm good enough to go anywhere as a strategist no different from the likes of Zhang Liang and Guo Jia, will I choose to play a part in my country's national football future or to be part of a relegated Middlesbrough Football Club?
Let me be this brutally frank: I will choose a second-tier Middlesbrough over my country.
I know a lot of my fellow S'poreans will judge me and call me a traitor even though I do not have any intention to swap my passport (read: Singapore doesn't allow dual citizenship fyi). However, I must also state that if my national football team wins gold for the SEA games or the AFC Suzuki Cup, I'll be glad for my nation and fellow Singaporeans. Beyond that, however, I'm already emotionally detached from local football. Unlike my national football team, however, I'm still emotionally attached to Middlesbrough Football Club. That's why if I'm really good enough, I won't stay here. I will go to Middlesbrough, top flight football or no top flight football.
In this sense, Arylos is actually my reflection. He doesn't see himself as part of the Tel-quessir despite being one of them. His patron deity is never part of the Seldarine, for his god is Kelemvor (read: he doesn't give a damn to the fact that Sehanine Moonbow also oversees death in the same way Kelemvor does). Ironically, Cyrea is exactly the direct opposite when it comes to the same sense of belonging. Thory was right after all. Opposites do attract.
Arigatou gozaimasu, Nasu-san. At least you gave me a good festive season gift. :)
I must have done something right unintentionally.
My recent Total Recalls: First impression
Basically, I'll do a general summary on all my seven characters. However, I don't see myself splitting focus anytime soon. The reason why being that Mod 10 and 10.5 are more for players specializing in one particular character in their respective roster than the all-rounder type. However, I may devote my playing to Arylos and one more character of my choice per week. As for the dungeons and skirmishes when it comes to my alts, I'll most likely be focusing on the standard dungeons and the Underdark skirmishes (albeit I won't discount running any T1 content since all my character are legit for that).
Note: Because my sis is always a bandwidth glutton due to her constant (streaming) diet of East Asian shows,I may need to do it fast. Whenever she starts watching Running Man or I am a Singer, the internet will straightaway go chaotic neutral at best, Supreme Throne mode at worst (which is most of the time).
Add note: Above part was done last night or so. Because there's no way for the Kuok family to compromise our digital convenience, I decided to start writing/blogging once my sis decides to stream her fave shows like this one below.
Vid uploaded by LeeKwangJa7012
Note: Because my sis is always a bandwidth glutton due to her constant (streaming) diet of East Asian shows,
Add note: Above part was done last night or so. Because there's no way for the Kuok family to compromise our digital convenience, I decided to start writing/blogging once my sis decides to stream her fave shows like this one below.
Vid uploaded by LeeKwangJa7012
Simril: The only event where you can get respec tokens for free
There's a very good reason why I like the Simril event. On average, I can get like 4-5 respec tokens (including the bind on pickup ones from the parcel drop). This gives me more chances to experiment with various builds of the characters I now have. Out of my seven characters, only Myrreas and Arylos will remain un-respec for now. Due to the relevance of companion active bonus, however, I'll include the two as well.
Cyrea:
Since she's gotten herself a BoP respec token, I might as well open it. The thing with saving space when it comes to respec tokens is very simple: If you get one on a BoP basis, just open it. It won't go into your shared bank anyway. As of now, I've got no intention of turning away from her righteous (paragon) path. The righteous tree is very flexible. In fact, it's the most flexible tree out of the three paragon paths. Virtuous is all abt mass defense/AP buffing while faithful is all abt mass heal (read; the devoted cleric will always be top tier in terms of AoE range. That is unless the devs decide to do some new class named primal druid or wandering bard for the next mod).
The righteous tree, however, is a different ball game. Not only is it the sole dps option (read: most likely a divine oracle unless you use Anointed Action as an anointed champion) available (read: you'll most likely need Light of Divinity, Guardian of Faith, and Divine Glow. Or something along that line), it can also be used as a buff-debuff spec (read: Hallowed Ground raid spam. Little wonder the devs nerfed it after mod 5). For Cyrea, she belongs to the latter. If I am to use her respec, most likely the focus will be more on the feats than anything else (I may set Searing Light on a rank 3 or 4 though since this move can be absurdly useful for a righteous spec due to the AoE fireworks in Divinity mode). Initially, I spent like 10 points in the Faithful tree. Turned out that it was a mistake on my part in the sense that I shouldn't have done Prestigious Exaltation. Quite likely the 10 points will go to either Have Faith and Urgent Prayers or Have Faith and Desperate Restoration. Either way, I'll need a rank 4 Astral Shield.
And one more thing: Augment companion. If you're using augment companion, it means you should only be a righteous devoted cleric since the stats can (and will) go a long way in maximizing the Avatar.
A/N to self: Arylos got himself a Sabino Destrier. Two in fact. With Sheperd's Devotion being every manner of devoted cleric's BFF, this means Cyrea is on her way to be the Neverwinter Six's equivalent of Dany mounted on a Sabino Destrier. Now if only I know which horsey to switch down. And yeah, there's also this dress as well.
A/N to self: Arylos got himself a Sabino Destrier. Two in fact. With Sheperd's Devotion being every manner of devoted cleric's BFF, this means Cyrea is on her way to be the Neverwinter Six's equivalent of Dany mounted on a Sabino Destrier. Now if only I know which horsey to switch down. And yeah, there's also this dress as well.
Korey:
She still has one respec on standby. However, I don't see myself using it unless I want to change her to a trapper. The thing with the archery tree is that the entire planning process is very straightforward. Just dump everything into your offensive feats. Period. If you're to do that, it means you still have 10 feat points to spare. If you're to ask me, there's no point investing them somewhere else (note: the only hunter ranger paragon path which can be useful via 5-15 feat points going elsewhere is the trapper).
Note: Ever tried the most bs stance switch tactic as a trapper? Stance switch>Oak Skin>Master Trapper gets proc'd>shoot it like Deadpool. I'm not bs'ing you all. It's actually doable and efficient in ways more than one.
Note: Ever tried the most bs stance switch tactic as a trapper? Stance switch>Oak Skin>Master Trapper gets proc'd>shoot it like Deadpool. I'm not bs'ing you all. It's actually doable and efficient in ways more than one.
Bhaasmond:
The devs gave a free respec to all oathbound paladins created before November. Basically, it means Bhaasmond got it as well. I really need to fix his build. Big time. Which is why the free respec couldn't come at a better time. Initially, I dumped 4 points in Aura of Courage and Aura of Protection. Problem is, this combination tends to get my companion KO. Before Mod 6, your companion can get away with 90% of the circumstances even if the odds were heavily stacked against your BFF. And that includes a common rank comp. This time round (or rather the devs have alrdy done that), even a rare companion can get the KO. Unless ofc you choose to use a rare Rimefire Golem (plus pure Loyal Defender gear setup with rank 7 dark enchantment in every defensive gear slot).
So what I did in the respec process is to max out Aura of Protection and Aura of Radiance. I know not many ppl may like AoR because it tends to disrupt play via constant aggro (read: all the AoE bs will go to you 99% of the time). However, the damage given means one thing: Everyone else on your side can just open fire with impunity. The best part of the deal? You can play a pure tankadin (read: Oath of Protection under the bulwark tree) and reach around 3rd spot in any dps ranking. In fact, AoR synergizes absurdly well with Radiant Strike if you want to play a rushdown tank (read: only for pure tankadins). The justice tree may have been nerfed, but it doesn't relegate the OP to the untouchable caste).
As for changes done to Circle of Power, it's definitely good news for everybody. The stupid thing behind the previous version is you're the only one receiving the boost. Nobody else can have it. It's a dog-in-the-manger logic in a very twisted way. This time round, it gives the same bonus to every ally in the area. Coupled with the usage of any Ring of Focus (both Sudden and Rising are equally useful if I say so myself), and you'll get one hell of a beast.
A/N: I got a BoP respec on Bhaasmond, I respec'd him into a justice tankadin w/15 feat pts going into the bulwark end (read: Unflinching Resolve+Stand Fast+Sanctity). At the same time, I decided to up the dps crit as much as possible (read: Wisdom+Charisma+Weapon Mastery+Wrathful Strikes+Force of Will). Tricky part lies in aggro grab. Which is why I decided to try out Vow of Enmity to see how things will go compared to Binding Oath. Also, there's this issue of whether a low cooldown will work against me due to Purifying Fire. If this works, credit will go to some crazy speedrun OP named Mad Willy for inspiring me to justice. Otherwise, it's my fault that Titanic sank and Camelot collapsed.
Kariss:
Used her BoP respec, have to say the result is far better than I otherwise expected. Before the respec, my choice of daily powers was Gates of Hell (for general usage) and Flames of Phlegethos (for boss fight or against any fellow resembling a big sized giant). Post-respec, it's Gates of Hell and Tyrannical Curse. On the encounter powers, I opted for Arms of Hadar (aka that bitch slap move), Wraith's Shadow (aka your BFF in the CC dept), and Pillar of Power (aka your BFF in the defensive dept). Apart from the issue of aiming (read: game lags>shit happens>because you're not using a tank), this is a very good build when it comes to mixing up the dps and CC. Suffice to say, Kariss is still having a good time bitch slapping those minions from the Abyss (read: curse them>slap them>control them>Parting Blasphemy>fireworks [nigh] irreversible). Just remember to max out Vengeful Curse with Pillar of Power and Gates of Hell on standby whenever possible.
Note: To make the CC BFF look even more badass as every warlock's BFF, Tyrannical Curse will NOT remove the curse if Wraith's Shadow is to be used as a follow-up. Which is CC galore, but a trade-off bummer for Parting Blasphemy.
Add Note: Kariss is still a mistress of temptation from the Nine Hells. Only difference lies in 5 pts going to Parting Blasphemy and 5 pts going to Critical Promise. Also, Lifedrinker is super effective due to Dark Revelry (aka buff orgy). Choosing the Temple lifesteal boon instead of the Stables defense boon doesn't really affect the efficiency, believe it or not (credit goes to Pillar of Power due to that absurdly high-end defensive ward).
Myrreas:
No intent to respec, the fact that he nvr got any BoP respec merely makes things easier. After all, I don't like seeing a daily reminder to respec in the character sheet screen unless I really want to. Still an AoE-centric scoundrel. However, I was actually deciding which encounter move to use as his bread-and-butter AoE (read: if you can't do a decent AoE game as a trickster rogue, you might as well go saboteur. Ironically, the only perma-stealth paragon tree is actually far harder to master). Smoke Bomb is nice to have, but it's mainly used as CC instead of dps. Which is not what I want since I've discovered his dps was too damn low. Then again, the scoundrel tends to be the lowest dps build available (after anema reworked the combat hunter ranger, the scoundrel is officially at the bottom of the dps pecking order). An irony, given how trickster rogues are known for being hdps. Then again, I'm pretty sure very few ppl actually choose scoundrel.
So I decided to go Path of Blades. Which is a good move to have due to the DD stack (read: Damage-Daze stack, not whatever absurd expectation of your girlfriend's cup size). If there's any bummer related to any scoundrel build, it'll be against control immune enemies.
Note: Control immunity can be misleading at times, if not most of the time. The reason being immunity to certain control effects rather than all of them).
Add Note: The in-game tooltip concerning Skullcracker seems to indicate a bug preventing the stealth meter refill to proc. Either that or more likely someone forgot to mod the coding.
Sheallyn:
If there's anyone who should be credited with Joe "Italian Joe+Spanish Allen=Jewish Joe Allen" Allen's success north of Wales, it is never Brendan "Brendan, wa si lin laopeh..." Rodgers. Rather, it's Mark "more than just a Maes?" Hughes. Not only does he reminds me of a player whose last name happens to be that of his nation, both of them are truly indebted to a Brit who happens to be anything but English. If the man named Allen should be the new generation of Superman minus the granny (amazingly enough, we have grannies everywhere in the UK), then Shea is the Rule 63 Allen (if there is any lady named Allen, I apologize for this unintentional offense).
Tbh, I really like the way her spellstorm mage thaumaturge is panning out. The dps was shaping up nicely in the form of Eye of the Storm and Storm Spell (read: basically the only reason why any spellstorm mage would use those two class features). However, the German bastard in me desired to tinker with her one more time (at least for now). Which now comes to the master of flame. Because I wanted to try something absolutely new, I decided to go renegade. In comparison with the lore, the renegade is quite surprisingly... well, drow in nature. We have plenty chaos being thrown about. Chaotic Regrowth (i.e. heal it like Wolverine and Deadpool), Chaotic Nexus (i.e. beat it like Sol Badguy), and Chaotic Fury (i.e. eat it like Ragna the Bloodedge). Pick your choice of chaos. Period.
The reason why the mass majority of players choose spellstorm mage is very simple. This is your classic wizard where everything is about destruction first, the rest second. If you want to play debuff first, destruction second, then you might as well play as a druid. If only the logic is that straightforward. Let me just say that the master of flame needs more love. Yet, it's also anything but the mainstream choice. It's like choosing between Taylor "gone (swiftly) in 60 secs" Swift and Loreena "Voice of the Canuckland" McKennitt. 90% of the music audience will choose to be a Swiftie (or Katy-Cat for that matter).
The survival capability boasted by the renegade (be it spellstorm mage or master of flame) should have alrdy been well documented. Key lies in Chaos Magic where you can just reverse the fight in the most epic manner possible (then again, none of us including the white people should be considered white. The black guy might be the nearest thing to the mark though...). There have been moments where the drow girl named Allen ended up getting unwanted aggro in the Sharandar campaign zone (more specifically the Realm of Malabog. No jokes based on Tagalog here pls). It's a no-brainer that whatever stuff you get to fight there have a high resistance to arcane damage. Or more specifically whatever bs any control wizard can throw at them. Imagine my surprise upon realizing that the drow girl named Allen managed to melt every mob like a furnace melting metal. It's like the lad named Allen creating havoc as a false 9. Period.
However, it's during the random dungeon/skirmish run that I realized why the master of flame is so dangerously underrated. I don't know abt the other two paragon trees, but using this MoF renegade build below is a recipe for being a MoF Xavi/Pirlo.
At-will powers: Chilling Cloud; Scorching Burst
Encounter powers: Fanning the Flame; Disintegrate; Steal Time
Spell mastery slot: Entangling Force
Daily powers: Furious Immolation; Ice Knife
Class features: Arcane Presence; Critical Conflagration
Artifact power: Chilling Cloud and Arcane Presence
This build is mainly for skirmishes, non-boss fights in dungeons, and solo running. Even without Shield, this build can keep you alive due to one-shot arcane stacking via a magically enhanced Entangling Force. Steal Time under normal usage is all about stun and slow based on the arcane stacks, so getting a maximum 5 stack game is both critical and quite easy to pull off. Because I focused the stat points on Intelligence and Charisma, what this means is that the drow girl named Allen is now high on crit (read: Intelligence affects base damage while Charisma affects base crit).
Because of the absurd versatility behind the master of flame, I have to mess around quite a bit to get my ideal combination right. Key to this is smolder bunching. Basically, this means bunching the mob together so that you can create a mass smolder effect by doing a Scorching Burst. Tricky thing behind pulling off this at-will power lies in a 50-50 chance of getting it right. Against opponents of average mobility or lower, it's very easy to a smolder bunch via holding down the mouse button. Against those of higher end mobility, this is where the problem comes. You can't hold down till the limit, you'll have to click and release. With Entangling Force in the spell mastery slot, it makes things far easier to do the smolder bunch. And that's not considering the smolder effect caused by Critical Conflagration upon crit.
Below is the boss fight variation of the Xavirlo MoF. Changes will be highlighted in bold italics.
At-will powers: Chilling Cloud; Scorching Burst
Encounter powers: Fanning the Flame; Disintegrate/Ray of Enfeeblement; Icy Terrain/Conduit of Ice
Spell mastery slot: Steal Time
Daily powers: Furious Immolation; Ice Knife
Class features: Arcane Presence; Critical Conflagration
Artifact power: Chilling Cloud and Arcane Presence
Only two things got changed. Icy Terrain is all about defense in case something happens out of nowhere. Due to the need for dps, however, I'll most likely go with Conduit of Ice. As for Steal Time in the spell mastery slot, it's like Xavirlo playing a (match winning) pass blind. Instead of inducing stun and slow, it now gives you (and your entire team) the ability to boss frag. Ultimately, the only catch lies in maximizing the arcane stacks. Which tbh is no biggie at all so long you spam Scorching Burst (plus a maxed out Arcane Burst). 3 hit Chilling Cloud>Scorching Burst>Fanning the Flame>Steal Time+Chilling Cloud combo>end it with Disintegrate. Alternatively, Ray of Enfeeblement is a good way to mess the boss up. After all, the drow girl named Allen is meant to control any fight like Xavirlo Allen.
Note: Lightning enchantment may easily be the reason why melting any mob is a possibility. Bar the transcendent version lagging the game like a Prism spam and low chance of unwanted aggro grab, it's absurdly effective to the core. Def the most underrated epic weapon enchantment ever.
Add note: To make the deal even better, I moved her blue Rimefire Golem's Loyal Defender gear to this black ice dude. Jack "here's Johnny!" Nicholson.
Korey also got the same black ice dude, his name is Jack Nicholson.
Hope SHyn Corp don't go after me like mad Johnny since Korey is based on their Freyja.
A/N: I got a BoP respec on Bhaasmond, I respec'd him into a justice tankadin w/15 feat pts going into the bulwark end (read: Unflinching Resolve+Stand Fast+Sanctity). At the same time, I decided to up the dps crit as much as possible (read: Wisdom+Charisma+Weapon Mastery+Wrathful Strikes+Force of Will). Tricky part lies in aggro grab. Which is why I decided to try out Vow of Enmity to see how things will go compared to Binding Oath. Also, there's this issue of whether a low cooldown will work against me due to Purifying Fire. If this works, credit will go to some crazy speedrun OP named Mad Willy for inspiring me to justice. Otherwise, it's my fault that Titanic sank and Camelot collapsed.
Thanks to my super mignonne legal housebreaker, I got to know this clip.
Thanks to Mad Willy's Cookie Monster, I decided to gift Bhaasmond a Big Bird.
Kariss:
Used her BoP respec, have to say the result is far better than I otherwise expected. Before the respec, my choice of daily powers was Gates of Hell (for general usage) and Flames of Phlegethos (for boss fight or against any fellow resembling a big sized giant). Post-respec, it's Gates of Hell and Tyrannical Curse. On the encounter powers, I opted for Arms of Hadar (aka that bitch slap move), Wraith's Shadow (aka your BFF in the CC dept), and Pillar of Power (aka your BFF in the defensive dept). Apart from the issue of aiming (read: game lags>shit happens>because you're not using a tank), this is a very good build when it comes to mixing up the dps and CC. Suffice to say, Kariss is still having a good time bitch slapping those minions from the Abyss (read: curse them>slap them>control them>Parting Blasphemy>fireworks [nigh] irreversible). Just remember to max out Vengeful Curse with Pillar of Power and Gates of Hell on standby whenever possible.
Note: To make the CC BFF look even more badass as every warlock's BFF, Tyrannical Curse will NOT remove the curse if Wraith's Shadow is to be used as a follow-up. Which is CC galore, but a trade-off bummer for Parting Blasphemy.
Add Note: Kariss is still a mistress of temptation from the Nine Hells. Only difference lies in 5 pts going to Parting Blasphemy and 5 pts going to Critical Promise. Also, Lifedrinker is super effective due to Dark Revelry (aka buff orgy). Choosing the Temple lifesteal boon instead of the Stables defense boon doesn't really affect the efficiency, believe it or not (credit goes to Pillar of Power due to that absurdly high-end defensive ward).
Myrreas:
No intent to respec, the fact that he nvr got any BoP respec merely makes things easier. After all, I don't like seeing a daily reminder to respec in the character sheet screen unless I really want to. Still an AoE-centric scoundrel. However, I was actually deciding which encounter move to use as his bread-and-butter AoE (read: if you can't do a decent AoE game as a trickster rogue, you might as well go saboteur. Ironically, the only perma-stealth paragon tree is actually far harder to master). Smoke Bomb is nice to have, but it's mainly used as CC instead of dps. Which is not what I want since I've discovered his dps was too damn low. Then again, the scoundrel tends to be the lowest dps build available (after anema reworked the combat hunter ranger, the scoundrel is officially at the bottom of the dps pecking order). An irony, given how trickster rogues are known for being hdps. Then again, I'm pretty sure very few ppl actually choose scoundrel.
So I decided to go Path of Blades. Which is a good move to have due to the DD stack (read: Damage-Daze stack, not whatever absurd expectation of your girlfriend's cup size). If there's any bummer related to any scoundrel build, it'll be against control immune enemies.
Note: Control immunity can be misleading at times, if not most of the time. The reason being immunity to certain control effects rather than all of them).
Add Note: The in-game tooltip concerning Skullcracker seems to indicate a bug preventing the stealth meter refill to proc. Either that or more likely someone forgot to mod the coding.
Sheallyn:
If there's anyone who should be credited with Joe "Italian Joe+Spanish Allen=Jewish Joe Allen" Allen's success north of Wales, it is never Brendan "Brendan, wa si lin laopeh..." Rodgers. Rather, it's Mark "more than just a Maes?" Hughes. Not only does he reminds me of a player whose last name happens to be that of his nation, both of them are truly indebted to a Brit who happens to be anything but English. If the man named Allen should be the new generation of Superman minus the granny (amazingly enough, we have grannies everywhere in the UK), then Shea is the Rule 63 Allen (if there is any lady named Allen, I apologize for this unintentional offense).
Tbh, I really like the way her spellstorm mage thaumaturge is panning out. The dps was shaping up nicely in the form of Eye of the Storm and Storm Spell (read: basically the only reason why any spellstorm mage would use those two class features). However, the German bastard in me desired to tinker with her one more time (at least for now). Which now comes to the master of flame. Because I wanted to try something absolutely new, I decided to go renegade. In comparison with the lore, the renegade is quite surprisingly... well, drow in nature. We have plenty chaos being thrown about. Chaotic Regrowth (i.e. heal it like Wolverine and Deadpool), Chaotic Nexus (i.e. beat it like Sol Badguy), and Chaotic Fury (i.e. eat it like Ragna the Bloodedge). Pick your choice of chaos. Period.
The reason why the mass majority of players choose spellstorm mage is very simple. This is your classic wizard where everything is about destruction first, the rest second. If you want to play debuff first, destruction second, then you might as well play as a druid. If only the logic is that straightforward. Let me just say that the master of flame needs more love. Yet, it's also anything but the mainstream choice. It's like choosing between Taylor "gone (swiftly) in 60 secs" Swift and Loreena "Voice of the Canuckland" McKennitt. 90% of the music audience will choose to be a Swiftie (or Katy-Cat for that matter).
The survival capability boasted by the renegade (be it spellstorm mage or master of flame) should have alrdy been well documented. Key lies in Chaos Magic where you can just reverse the fight in the most epic manner possible (then again, none of us including the white people should be considered white. The black guy might be the nearest thing to the mark though...). There have been moments where the drow girl named Allen ended up getting unwanted aggro in the Sharandar campaign zone (more specifically the Realm of Malabog. No jokes based on Tagalog here pls). It's a no-brainer that whatever stuff you get to fight there have a high resistance to arcane damage. Or more specifically whatever bs any control wizard can throw at them. Imagine my surprise upon realizing that the drow girl named Allen managed to melt every mob like a furnace melting metal. It's like the lad named Allen creating havoc as a false 9. Period.
However, it's during the random dungeon/skirmish run that I realized why the master of flame is so dangerously underrated. I don't know abt the other two paragon trees, but using this MoF renegade build below is a recipe for being a MoF Xavi/Pirlo.
At-will powers: Chilling Cloud; Scorching Burst
Encounter powers: Fanning the Flame; Disintegrate; Steal Time
Spell mastery slot: Entangling Force
Daily powers: Furious Immolation; Ice Knife
Class features: Arcane Presence; Critical Conflagration
Artifact power: Chilling Cloud and Arcane Presence
This build is mainly for skirmishes, non-boss fights in dungeons, and solo running. Even without Shield, this build can keep you alive due to one-shot arcane stacking via a magically enhanced Entangling Force. Steal Time under normal usage is all about stun and slow based on the arcane stacks, so getting a maximum 5 stack game is both critical and quite easy to pull off. Because I focused the stat points on Intelligence and Charisma, what this means is that the drow girl named Allen is now high on crit (read: Intelligence affects base damage while Charisma affects base crit).
Because of the absurd versatility behind the master of flame, I have to mess around quite a bit to get my ideal combination right. Key to this is smolder bunching. Basically, this means bunching the mob together so that you can create a mass smolder effect by doing a Scorching Burst. Tricky thing behind pulling off this at-will power lies in a 50-50 chance of getting it right. Against opponents of average mobility or lower, it's very easy to a smolder bunch via holding down the mouse button. Against those of higher end mobility, this is where the problem comes. You can't hold down till the limit, you'll have to click and release. With Entangling Force in the spell mastery slot, it makes things far easier to do the smolder bunch. And that's not considering the smolder effect caused by Critical Conflagration upon crit.
Below is the boss fight variation of the Xavirlo MoF. Changes will be highlighted in bold italics.
At-will powers: Chilling Cloud; Scorching Burst
Encounter powers: Fanning the Flame; Disintegrate/Ray of Enfeeblement; Icy Terrain/Conduit of Ice
Spell mastery slot: Steal Time
Daily powers: Furious Immolation; Ice Knife
Class features: Arcane Presence; Critical Conflagration
Artifact power: Chilling Cloud and Arcane Presence
Only two things got changed. Icy Terrain is all about defense in case something happens out of nowhere. Due to the need for dps, however, I'll most likely go with Conduit of Ice. As for Steal Time in the spell mastery slot, it's like Xavirlo playing a (match winning) pass blind. Instead of inducing stun and slow, it now gives you (and your entire team) the ability to boss frag. Ultimately, the only catch lies in maximizing the arcane stacks. Which tbh is no biggie at all so long you spam Scorching Burst (plus a maxed out Arcane Burst). 3 hit Chilling Cloud>Scorching Burst>Fanning the Flame>Steal Time+Chilling Cloud combo>end it with Disintegrate. Alternatively, Ray of Enfeeblement is a good way to mess the boss up. After all, the drow girl named Allen is meant to control any fight like Xavirlo Allen.
Note: Lightning enchantment may easily be the reason why melting any mob is a possibility. Bar the transcendent version lagging the game like a Prism spam and low chance of unwanted aggro grab, it's absurdly effective to the core. Def the most underrated epic weapon enchantment ever.
Add note: To make the deal even better, I moved her blue Rimefire Golem's Loyal Defender gear to this black ice dude. Jack "here's Johnny!" Nicholson.
Korey also got the same black ice dude, his name is Jack Nicholson.
Hope SHyn Corp don't go after me like mad Johnny since Korey is based on their Freyja.
A/N: Nearly forgot to mention that I gave Korey that free Princess Leia dress as her Simril present.
Arylos:
Finally, I've reached the end. Okay, the main reason why I nvr respec'd my main is down to plenty of stuff alrdy maxed out at rank 4. Because there's a need to up the dps value, I decided to try out Aspect of the Pack with Blade Storm as his class features. Alternatively, I can try out Blade Storm and Twin-Blade Storm. Only problem? This synergy may be the highest dps option for a combat spec, but it only works against mobs numbering more than 2. So yeah, not interested in using a class feature which can turn up as a white elephant under certain circumstances.
The main problem so far before I decided on the switch lies in Aspect of the Lone Wolf. The good thing about this class feature is that it gives much-needed survivability. The bad thing is that what I've said here is only relevant prior to anema's reworked combat tree. With the reworked Battlecrazed giving Arylos 15% deflection bonus more oft than not (read: Clear the Ground), this means there's no point in using that class feature due to the Stables defense boon being my preferred choice to the Temple lifesteal boon. Together with the Survivor's Blessing effect conferred by a Heavy Howler (plus the mount stat bonus of 2K crit), being a loner is basically out of the question.
Suffice to say, the effect was devastating. In the Baphomet weekly fight, that ManBearGoat managed to take out more HP from Arylos. However, it's only expected since...
1. The devs now have the habit of reviewing the difficulty level of any given fight across all zones, skirmishes, dungeons, and trials. This is especially evident in the end-game campaign content. Quite notably, the ante in any Maze Engine fight has been upped.
2. No more Aspect of the Lone Wolf=GAR.
Arylos:
Finally, I've reached the end. Okay, the main reason why I nvr respec'd my main is down to plenty of stuff alrdy maxed out at rank 4. Because there's a need to up the dps value, I decided to try out Aspect of the Pack with Blade Storm as his class features. Alternatively, I can try out Blade Storm and Twin-Blade Storm. Only problem? This synergy may be the highest dps option for a combat spec, but it only works against mobs numbering more than 2. So yeah, not interested in using a class feature which can turn up as a white elephant under certain circumstances.
The main problem so far before I decided on the switch lies in Aspect of the Lone Wolf. The good thing about this class feature is that it gives much-needed survivability. The bad thing is that what I've said here is only relevant prior to anema's reworked combat tree. With the reworked Battlecrazed giving Arylos 15% deflection bonus more oft than not (read: Clear the Ground), this means there's no point in using that class feature due to the Stables defense boon being my preferred choice to the Temple lifesteal boon. Together with the Survivor's Blessing effect conferred by a Heavy Howler (plus the mount stat bonus of 2K crit), being a loner is basically out of the question.
Suffice to say, the effect was devastating. In the Baphomet weekly fight, that ManBearGoat managed to take out more HP from Arylos. However, it's only expected since...
1. The devs now have the habit of reviewing the difficulty level of any given fight across all zones, skirmishes, dungeons, and trials. This is especially evident in the end-game campaign content. Quite notably, the ante in any Maze Engine fight has been upped.
2. No more Aspect of the Lone Wolf=GAR.
One key change which I may be doing lies in the party skillset. The reason why being that annoying great weapon fighter dash. No matter how hard I try (read: think/analyze), the only way for me to catch up is the speed buff given by the Howling Weapon set. If I'm to use the Twisted Weapon set, it means I'll need to close in asap without the advantage of accelerated pace. Problem with the combat tree lies in the short dodge range. What this means is this: playing the combat spec is very disadvantageous because you'll lose out to the great weapon fighters (i.e. running forward like Guts going all out to kill Griffith) and trickster rogue (i.e. long dodge range plus decent ranged dps, just do it like your fave Assassin's Creed hero). This aspect of party gameplay can be painfully evident in fights like Throne of the Dwarven Gods.
Ultimately, I decided to eschew Plant Growth for Marauder's Rush. The nice thing about the latter move lies in the surprise element. Pull it off and watch the question marks floating above them. If you can make the opponent(s) go wth, it means you'll have that brief window of advantage to exploit.
Note: 3 tanks and 2 dps (including Arylos) in Throne of the Dwarven Gods. The outcome? We could have gotten gold if not for our screw-up in the hostage rescue phase (read: silver+gold+gold=silver). Don't thank me, thank Aspect of the Pack.
Add note: Been messing around with Marauder's Rush with the undead ice fishing victim in Twilight Tor being the training dummy. Bar the sudden lag after execution, I find chaining Disruptive Shot from this move to be quite lethal due to Aimed Strike being the follow-up hit.
P.S: This year's Simril has been quite hilarious. If you think the chat zone at Protector's Enclave is pure drivel, that's because you've yet to noticed what has transpired during this year's Simril event. I'm not gonna add any caption because it's best to go natural like your natural Korean beauty.
Add P.S: Yes, I know the cropping was very screwed up. Period.
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