Lowdown on the loadouts (plus I may have finally gotten the trick right)

Since I have like 1 hr+ to my sleeping time, might as well I do a bit of write-up here. Before I get started...

I may have finally gotten the trick right

A few hrs ago, I tried doing another round of Kabal. With one HR and one GF, no less. Suffice to say, Kabal's trial of fire was now far easier since I've already gotten the hang of it. Due to a lack of sleep, however, I got myself killed once. Interestingly enough, it always helps to have the tank reaching the finishing line first since the fight against the "guard dogs" would commence asap.

When it comes to dodging, it should only be used primarily to cover ground asap so that you'll be out of the firing range.

The first try was a disaster so as to speak (the tank apologized, so I assumed the aggro grabbing part went terribly wrong somewhere). Come the second time, we did in Kabal nicely. One thing of note is that Kabal will always be at the edge. At the same time, he seems to have some kind of ability to pull you towards him. Not only that, he's got some knockback move that will throw you down prone straight into the lava pit. Thankfully, the arena is surrounded by a wall. In other words, you won't get thrown off the stage if you happened to position yourself near the edge rather than the center.

On the fireball and chain, the damage over time can be very insane. Even more insane than Nostura's Death Star. Funnily enough, my first/previous Kabal run also involved a 3 member party (including me), but the flaming morningstar never did a DoT on me. Thanks to valuable input from one of my guild alliance members (can't remember his/her name), I managed to put one and one together. Apparently, the source of DoT comes from another fireball situated. This second fireball is stationary. I know this because, in my second/current run, I noticed a stationary fireball while getting pulled by Kabal's chain. At the same time, I actually survived the flaming morningstar in the second try after the party got wiped. Yes, half the HP was gone. But hey, at least it's better than the first round where the DoT killed me outright.

In other words, do NOT let the chain come into contact with the third party fireball. The moment you do that, you die. Once the DoT sets in, you'll have to act fast. The stationary fireball would most likely pop up at random location. However, there's a fixed pattern to this. Namely, the third party fireball will always be situated anywhere at the center of Kabal's arena. Once you get the burn, move slightly away to the side until you're very sure the chain is no longer in contact with the third party fireball. And trust me, you'll really need to move asap. The DoT won't kill you straight away, but it will still kill you in a matter of seconds. The moment the DoT stops, it means you're in the safe zone. This sole method of surviving the DoT burn, however, would most likely require a few tries if this is your first Kabal fight (read: #respawnlol). This is because the camera view will only cover the frontal view, hence making the detection part quite difficult at least for the first try.

Assuming you're fighting the mob during the process of defying Kabal's law of physics, the only way is to pull the fireball towards them. If possible at all, CC them once they close in. Otherwise, you'll have to take them on until the fireball hit them. The mob will always spawn at the center where the anvil is, so it should be relatively easy to do them in once you're able to move past them in a straight line (read: exploiting the space between one enemy and the other). If you get the DoT burn as well, wait for a brief moment before moving slightly to the side. This is to give you more space to outmanoeuvre the mob while trying to get away from the stationary fireball (unless you have an effective dodge/dash game). Since they will just automatically close in (read: most of Kabal's minions are melee damage dealers anyway), it should quite easy to use the flaming morningstar against them. If possible at all, pull the fireball towards Kabal (read: somewhere near enough along the edge). Otherwise, killing his Kabalites will automatically remove his super armor. While I'm not sure of this being doable anywhere else, at least I have reasons to believe the anvil is actually the source of Kabal's invincibility (read: detonating any golem near that thing plus the fact that Kabal doesn't seem to enjoy moving towards the center stage). Once the super armor is removed, just go straight for the jugular. With the super armor, Kabal is literally invincible. Without it, he's basically worse than a glass cannon. Which is why any Kabal fight should very easy if you're running his trial of fire and iron with a party of 3 or more. Once he said something after the explosion, it means you can just start fragging him. Ultimately, key to defeating him lies in how much damage you can deal in a go.

Note: Once the DoT sets in, you won't have time to consume potion, let alone activating any self-heal artifact. Just move immediately. Also, I might be wrong here, but it seems that only one stationary fireball will appear when the chain comes out.

Add note: Apparently, Kabal can only use one chain at a time. Also, it seems that the stationary fireball will not come out once Kabal submerges the arena center with magma.

More add note: Above part was actually written like N days ago.

Planning the loadouts: Things of note

Be mentally prepared for increased difficulty on the PvE front. This is due to the presence of loadouts. To understand what the loadout system, one must understand the hassle behind changing the moveset just because you need to raid a Castle Never. For those who have the luxury of joining private queues, it's not that bad. For those doing public queue via auto team matchmaking, the frustration can be very real.

Because the loadout system also affects the stats, boons, and feats, it also means giving much more leeway in creating two builds. One for open world PvE, another for raiding instances (and this is not including PvP and specific raid instances like Demogorgon, Fangbreaker Island, and Svardborg).

For the dps builds, open PvE is all about surviving while raiding instances is all about the damage. For the tanks, it's quite the other way round. Because the devs have already started tweaking the difficulty level since mod 7, be prepared for somewhat of an overhaul come 2nd May 2017. Already, the zombies and Thayan servitors in the Dread Ring have gotten very dodgy with an insanely high dodge/deflection game. Quite likely both. Don't believe me, go run the Dread Ring now and see how the HP bar drop.

So what to expect come 2nd May 2017?

1. Be prepared for open PvE dishing out more damage. This is due to tanks having a better survival game than any other builds especially when it comes to the high-end stuff like Vault of the Nine one-shot quest and quite possibly the Biggrin's Tomb weekly quest.

2. Be prepared for raiding instances taking more damage without dropping dead. This is due party teamwork and that one thing called combat advantage.

Next up: Because it's already very late and that my sleeping pattern works like a Tesla guy, therefore I need to end this. Next up, loadouts for Arylos, Cyrea, and Myrreas.

P.S: Something's wrong. Some unknown fellow actually replaced Cyrea's profile with Kariss' profile. Either the people in Cryptic were trolling me or some hacker got nothing better to do. Worst come to worst, my super mignonne stickwoman may have gotten hold of my account info and that she actually played a prank to get my attention. Okay, ignore the last possibility. My prefrontal cortex is abnormal anyway...

Kabal: Kaching or Karchng?

Kabal:
One of the four members of the Cloaked Ascendancy, the warrior of the group. Went missing around a century ago (i.e. 1385 DR) due to the Spellplague. Or sixty years ago due to the Spellplague if Braga and Lukan can be trusted.

Kaching:
Also known as the bling, USD, SGD, or whatever D. Arguably a word made famous by Shane O'Mac.

Karchng:
In Singlish/Hokkien, it refers to that other prominent part of the female anatomy apart from the boobs. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it merely means you're acting dumb because of that pretty girl in your workplace.

Fighting Kabal: Either kaching or karchng

Earlier tonight, I've finally started my first Kabal fight (i.e. the intro fight). A lot has been said about how absurdly hard this guy can get, then there are a few who actually said fighting Kabal can be very easy if we're talking abt a solo mano-a-mano. So which side is telling the truth? Is it really possible for the outcome to be a kaching? (read: victory) Or is it true that chances are that any solo fight will end up to be a karchng? (read: defeat)

Note: My intro fight against Kabal went worse than expected. Nevertheless, this is a fight which Deadpool can easily win for a very good reason.

Déjà vu, anyone?

If fighting Nostura requires a Daytona victory, then fighting Kabal is bound to give you a sense of déjà vu in ways more than one. Firstly, we get to "see" the devs once again. Last time round, they got stuck in the middle of the Sea of Moving Ice. No matter how hard you tried, they just couldn't be bailed out. This time round, they survived the Sea of Moving Ice, only to find themselves in Kabal's backyard for reasons unknown.

Apart from "seeing" the devs doing a Kenny McCormick, another sense of déjà vu lies in doing a Super Mario. You have to jump from platform to platform, the only problem lies in the various flamethrowers deployed at the left-hand side. You're promptly reminded of that crazy Stagtona race to Nostura's fortress where that damn animal is always moving slower than your 70 yr old ah-kong (or ah-ma for that matter). Not only that, the flamethrowers reminded you of Lukan's flamethrower in the Illusionist's Gambit (basically the best skirmish so far in the game, even more so than Prophecy of Madness and Throne of the Dwarven Gods).

Thankfully, running and jumping around the stage like Super Mario and his BFF Yoshi isn't that scary. In fact, you shouldn't have a problem with it if you're actually good enough to do a Stagtona. Let me be frank here. My first try ended up in a fatality, but that's partially (or totally depending on how you perceive the situation) due me messing around. I wasn't serious in trying to survive the first try since it's just a game, not a real-life Game of Thrones where you either die or win the Khaleesi's favor.

After dying once, the game was very clear to me. Either you dodge or dash. If you're an oathbound paladin or guardian fighter, don't bother pressing shift. Just walk through the gauntlet like a boss, but please analyze the pattern of the flamethrowers so that you can time your walk properly (read: knowing when to press forward without pausing). It's far easier than the Stagtona. That bloody animal took me 3-4 tries at least to get through, so doing the platform jump wasn't much of a big deal after the first respawn.

In the first stage, there are several switches placed in between the platforms. Once you switch them off, the flamethrowers will be deactivated. Not all of them, though. If you're running this on solo, then it's not important since you'll end up reaching the next respawn point before reaching the switches. If you're running this as a group, however, it's very important for the first person to switch off the flamethrowers. This is to ensure no accidents will happen in the process. Once the fire gets you, you'll be shoved off the platform like how Ashara Dayne threw herself off the cliff last time round. It may sound funny, but I'm sure there are those who got it from Kabal in the process of platform jumping. Just don't ask me whether there's a female human devoted cleric toon named Ashara Dayne.

Take note that the final lap of flamethrowers does NOT have any switch. In other words, you'll have to time your walk like a boss. Any attempt to dodge will most likely end up in failure since I'm sure the fire will just ignore the dodge invincibility. At the same time, the angle is quite weird. Very weird tbh. Not the normal horizontal direction, but rather diagonally towards you. On this front, you have three cannons in a row. Once you get past the first cannon, do NOT stop. Just keep going unless your toon is a female human devoted cleric named Ashara Dayne.

Taking on the mob

Unlike Nostura who prefers distributing her forces, Kabal enjoys placing all his guards at the gate. If you're to ask me, the only problematic guy is that dreadnought with a flaming head. At the same time, please try to stay around the center of the platform. Some of Kabal's minions will just self-detonate upon being killed, with certain Kabalites (i.e. Kabal's minions) more than capable of blowing up the surrounding area even before they die. What this means is very simple: Stay too near the edge and the explosion will just throw you off the platform.

This is basically the kind of fight where you really have to end it asap. If you can do that to Kabal's flaming dreadnought, it shouldn't be an issue since that damned dullahan would always pull off its Sherman Scorched Special. Just make sure you adopt a hit and run approach unless you're confident enough to survive its 3 hit combo.

Taking on the Kabal

Disclaimer: I got myself killed early in the fight because my reconnaissance tactic during any fight involves messing around without taking the fight seriously. As such, some/most of the things I say below are either speculative or something the devs will try pulling off in the future since they're officially in the business of reviewing the difficulty level ever since mod 7. Either way, I'm sure my analysis should be at least theoretically right on a tactical scale.

That's where most gamers start complaining while their minority counterparts mock their whining. The terrain is that of an arena. Sounds simple enough? There are two ways to court outright fatality. The first is taking to the center stage when Kabal starts filling it with magma. In this instance, stay at the edge. If you're within the detonation knockback zone in case any Kabalite self-detonates, don't face your back towards the center. This will be a tactical fight where most likely 60-70% of the action will take place along the edge. By comparison, fighting Nostura is much more straightforward since you only need to survive her Death Star attack while taking out the blue flames. You may need a few respawns to get things right, but once you get the hang of it, the fight should be relatively easy.

If Kabal moves to the center, don't follow him. Just bait him to the edge where it's pretty much the safe zone. If you're running this fight as a trickster rogue, use ranged at-wills like Cloud of Steel and Disheartening Strike to bait him. If you're a great weapon fighter/guardian fighter, just take him on, taunt him, and pull him back to the edge. If you're a combat HR, just go ranged stance and do the standard ranged baiting. The only problem lies in the scenario where you're an oathbound paladin choosing the Oath of Devotion. That's where your taunting game is deemed nigh non-existent at best, the square root of sod all at worst.

The key aspect of Kabal's fighting style is his super armor. More specifically, I'm referring to the fact that he's quite literally damage proof 90% of the time. Why I say 90% instead of 100% is very simple. Thanks to the members of my guild alliance, I've gleaned a couple of useful info.

1. Detonating Kabal's golems will ensure his super armor temporarily gone. Please note that for this to work, Kabal has to be in the self-detonation AoE. This is basically the tank approach where all you need to do is to take Kabal head-on, super armor or no super armor.

2. If you get caught by one of Kabal's chains, don't stay put. It will pull you towards a fireball facing your sorry karchng. Once the fireball explodes, it's one shot fatality and #respawnlol in every sense of the statement. However, moving towards Kabal in an act of defiance against the law of physics (since the chain will really pull you towards the opposite direction) will reward you with a Kabal tasting his own medicine. Just make sure the fireball gets his karchng instead of yours. Credit goes to Malakut (aka the tankiest control wizard) for this tip.

Note: More oft than not, there will be a higher number of gamers doing lfg requests for Kabal and Gyrion fights. While I've yet to try taking on Gyrion, I find that party raiding Kabal's base can be very easy once the super armor goes down. Unless you're game for a challenge, please look out for such requests in the zone chat.

Vital tip: If possible at all, use a movement food/potion buff unless you can move fast enough to avoid death by a flaming morningstar. Period.

P.S: Originally, I intended this post to be much longer since I do have the tendency to go OCDP mode in everything I do, if not most. However, I need to start disciplining myself for the sake of my future. Last thing I ever want is my super mignonne stickwoman worrying over my wellbeing.

SOS

2nd of May, one day after May Day. This will be when the new mod says hi. Interestingly enough, SOS seems to be pointing towards a new direction. Namely, 1 mod=1 story instead of 2 mods=1 story. Funnily enough, there seems to be that ex-lovebirds link between The Cloaked Ascendancy and Shroud Of Souls.

In The Cloaked Ascendancy, there is a background link with the Spellplague. And when we talk about that nearest thing to a global apocalypse, Mystra "faking" her "death" is the spotlight.

In Shroud Of Souls, Lukan's stunt took place in a Kelemvorite crypt. As a result, plenty of stuff got blown up out of proportion. Sounds a bit like how Criminal Minds Beyond Borders spoofed/screwed up the Singaporean justice system. As for me? Sorry, I don't give a damn. But I need mention that moment where the Ministry of Manpower was mentioned. If you think the kind of reaction like "that sounds Orwellian..." sounds bad, let me relate to you something utterly hilarious a few years ago. That was at the mailroom office of my workplace (i.e. SGH) where one of the staff misheard Ministry of Manpower.

Kakak A: Huh? Ministry of Main Bawah?

Because I'm born a cat unlike what a PRC insinuated about me last time round, I decided to find out for myself what is the meaning of the word. I asked the storeman (let's call him Pak A) working in the DDR. Only then did I fully realize the full extent of hilarity behind the Ministry of Main Bawah. Don't understand what is Main Bawah? Never mind, it's better for you not to know the dark side of Bahasa Melayu. Hopefully, my super mignonne stickwoman doesn't know the meaning of that term.

Wait... what if she got Malay friends? What if one of her Malay friends is a girl? Mampus sial...

Don't understand pergi mampus/mampos? Well, in Trump speak it means "you're fired". Please note that the Trump speak translation is not the literal/proper translation.

What you'll see in this post

Basically, this will be my first impression on the upcoming mod plus some side rambling so as to speak. Because not much is being outed from the info closet, I can only write this much. Which is a good thing anyway since my prefrontal cortex function is anything but normal. Pretty sure my super mignonne stickwoman knows about this since day 1.

Note: I'm only adding this meme for fun. Period.

This popped up recently...

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I cannot discount the situation where the devs have too many complaints and too little time (let alone any free time). To rectify the bugs and glitches, corrective programming is required. In other words, one little screw up in a single line of coding text can create the programming equivalent of the MOAB. Come to think of it, was I guilty of acting like an impatient jackass all the while?

Which now comes to the other end of the issue. How would the community think? I don't represent the entire community, neither am I hired as Cryptic's PR defense attorney. The general consensus has always been a case more negativity and less positivity. No one in the studio can bail out of that, no matter what, how, and why.

I can only hope that this statement of clarification won't blow up like the worst case scenario in the RL version of 한반도 (and no, I doubt Kim Pyongyang is actually getting any more real in his threats than the stereotypical South Korean. Believe it or not, I wrote up an analysis on the staring competition on my FB profile).

Let's build more stuff (?)

An interesting add-on to the Stronghold aspect of the gameplay. One of the most understated questions so far in the game is whether it's high time for the devs to add something to the guild stronghold maps. While I've yet play through the entire 20 levels' worth of guild story quests, I think it's safe to assume that there's plenty of stories left untold. Okay, maybe not that plenty. But enough to warrant at least another 10 levels of guild hall upgrading? The implied presence of the drow is still left unexplained. The presence of Underdark and Maze Engine campaigns means surely there is more space for story telling in this part of the map. I'll admit that Cryptic's storytelling style in the game is a bit too black and white for my taste, even a wee bit politically charged at times. But because I tend to reserve a higher standard of storytelling for myself, I don't mind it at all. The studio has to race against time more oft than not.

Imagine this: 2 mods in a year! From last year, I think it has gotten up till 3 mods per year! Only an idiot will expect a story with the kind of standard boasted by Sakaguchi "will I get sued for calling my 3rd studio Moonwalker?" Hironobu under such circumstances (ironically, any plan to do a Neverwinter Six saga series with Sakaguchi-san is still theoretically possible).

I'll be covering all 3 temporary buildings listed here.

On the masterwork profession vendors, I have mixed feelings here. On one hand, I'm glad that there will be vendors selling components for the masterwork professions. Problem with doing masterwork missions is very simple: You don't have enough components to finish the second round. The thing with masterwork professions is this: To make whatever stuff worth your time and effort, you'll need a Gondhammer of at least a legendary rank. Even then, getting past the first round is already difficult enough with one legendary tool generated from the artifact and 3-4 other epic tools. While I don't expect the temp vendors to sell stuff like soft/hard aberrant leather and lined/lacquered aberrant leather, I really hope stuff like cashmere yarn and adamant rings. In other words, not everybody has the kind of free time to max out two professions at the same time (apart from Leadership and Black Ice Shaping for obvious reasons. And let's not talk about potential complications arising from the super slow levelling speed and equally super lucrative end level stuff where Leadership profession is concerned). If things go as well as I hope for, it means two things.

1. It's easier to craft masterwork gear so long you have the Gondhammer.

2. What this possibly means is a lower bidding price on the auction house for masterwork gear and a higher bidding price for the Gondhammer. After all, the so-called recommended standard will always be done by the devs according to how the in-game economy goes. If you think that's dictatorship, it means you don't understand how your country's economy work.

As for buying basic crafting materials en masse via guild marks, I have my own worries. On one hand, it's good that you don't have to go out into either Caer-Konig or Protector's Enclave for some much-needed shopping. However, the tricky part lies in the definition of buying in bulk. Under the current limitation, the maximum amount of basic crafting materials is capped at 100. To make the whole temporary vendors useful, the max cap should be upped. At least to 200 if I say so myself. This is because compared to farming guild marks, it's so much easier to farm money. If you have a Radiant enchantment slotted into a utility slot, the kaching will just keep... well, going kaching. Try imagining how much a rank 7 Radiant can fetch you in terms of cold hard cash earned. Neverwinter has always been about cash-light, assets heavy. If you still don't know this by now, it means you're dumber than an idiotic cleric who can't even heal the tank properly (i.e. worshipping the god of failure).

On the second type of temp vendors, this will most likely be the staple choice of every guild. This is because such vendors can easily hasten your guild hall progress. Even more so if your guild is of the smaller size instead of the bigger players like Gutbusters Brigade, Hungarian Lords, Win Or Lose We Booze, and Greycloaks If you belong to the latter category, however, I think it's better to discuss whether to hire the temp professions vendors instead.

As for the third type... erm the description "guilds with astral diamonds to spare" sounds like how the tooltip always work in the game. Ambiguous at best, outright pointless at worst. Unless it means astral diamonds voucher and astral diamonds quite literally. Apparently, however, this indicates a case of RNG. I'm very intrigued by the manner of rare items stated. Will coalescent ward be part of the RNG menu? Ultimately, I don't care much about the aesthetics because I tend to think like Archer instead of Lancer.

Well, at least 90% of the time anyway since I may have accidentally become Sora "no lewd jokes, please" Ma's wardrobe designer.

Note: Due to the presence of the second type of temp vendor, it's quite likely we'll see an increase in maximum guild hall level coming up soon.

Coming to a guild hall near you

The devs must have done something so terribly right with The Cloaked Ascendancy, they actually decided to ship a key aspect of this current mod into the next. In the Illusionist's Gambit skirmish, you can opt to go for the next round if your party survives the current one (up till 3 rounds in total). I won't be surprised if the Stronghold Marauders event also works the same. At least 3 rounds in total if you're to ask me. This may easily be the highlight of SOS. After all, too much Dragonflight fights can feel terribly banal (thankfully, DF fights range from occasional to some form of rarity where my guild alliance is concerned. Either that or the S'porean timezone doesn't work well with the American/European timezones).

My hope for this event is very simple. To make the SM fight feel like another IG, only more hardcore (read: more challenging). If it's any enemy type you've faced in the SH map, then that enemy type should be fair game and 100% legit.

Now that's a mother load...

Is there anything I should add here? You may be surprised to hear me say a resounding no. The reason why? I actually mentioned loadouts way before the devs outed their plans, believe it or not.

Note: Is it too much for me to request a Transcendent Vorpal and a Transcendent Negation as a form of appreciation cum remuneration?

Featured quest or intro quest?

Different ways of putting it, same thing actually. I truly doubt Cryptic will depart from the intro quest system which served the game so well. The line separating bold and reckless can be very clear at times. This is one of those clear-cut moments. There's nothing much for me to say, so might as well I put on my tactical thinking cap.

Firstly, I won't be surprised if you'll get to fight demons again. The reason why being Orcus' name being bandied around like some major gimmick here. The dev blog only intro'd two kinds of enemies so far, but only a moron will expect only this much (at least I don't recall anyone mentioning many a stag party organized by dryads at the behest of Nostura before they unleashed The Cloaked Ascendancy).

Secondly, how would I perceive the correct strategy? Because non-boss enemies are never control-immune (from my best of understanding, that is), the slow effect can be very useful. If it's grasping roots (either weak or strong, but definitely the stronger the better), then you're most likely halfway to the victory lap. For the teleporting wraiths, the only way for them to jailbreak is to teleport like Azazel. Even then, such a move is never spammable. If you still don't know how Valindra Shadowmantle fights in her tower, it means you're dumber than a tank who can't even tank a normal Demogorgon properly (let alone an epic one).

As for the chasing after shadows, it's quite interesting to see that they're far more of a glass cannon than the wraiths. A possible reason why may be down to the wraith's life draining being a form of life leeching (read: using your HP to heal its own HP). In other words, the amount of damage transformed into the HP healed may easily be a case of much higher percentage. So what may possibly pan out is a shadow being able to one-shot a lower level toon in any day (or night for that matter). Is there any way to avoid the assassination attempt? The answer is yes.

In Neverwinter, item level is important. This is due to minimal requirements for the end-game raiding. At the same time, your character's item level also serves as a gauge on which campaign area you're able to run and survive. In this sense, your choice of gear and total item level are equally important (read; neither being more important than the other when it comes to the true blue end-game content). More than gear level and type, however, is your tactical awareness. Willy from my guild alliance once said in the alliance chat that dps gamers mostly rely on muscle and mindless button spamming. Which is true. Most of my 7 characters are dps. In fact, Arylos is considered a dps class even though he's more of the tactician in raid instances. If whatever little info being outed is spot on, it means movement will be of utmost importance.

It's very easy to understand this tbh. To minimize the risk of getting assassinated by a shadow, you'll need to move about. Once you hear the tell-tale screech (most likely something similar to the sound made by a soul puppet whenever your scourge warlock conjures her BFF by my own guess), it's time to move. If you're a tank, healadin, great weapon fighter, or even a devoted cleric minus the Anointed Armor class feature, I won't be surprised if a one-shot attack won't kill you. If you're someone like a control wizard, scourge warlock, or even a combat hunter ranger/scoundrel trickster rogue, then you better start thinking on your feet. Period. Because the mob layout system in the game is very straightforward (i.e. there's only this much mob combination any map can throw at you), chances are that you'll have to deal with many a mob comprising of shadows and wraiths.

Edgar Allan PoE (plus why you should/shouldn't be playing this as a SingTel subscriber)

Good grief. A bloody good grief. Recently, I tried my hand in the gaming equivalent of Edgar Allan Poe. Namely, PoE. Simply put, Path of Exile. Yes, I know it's a very lame joke.

How I met your Exile

It's basically an accident waiting to happen. Despite what a certain PRC scholar may imply, I think more like a cat. In other words, it is down to the marriage union of curiosity and whims. I accidentally came across an article listing the top 50 F2P games of the year. Path of Exile happened to be one of them (together with Neverwinter). While Neverwinter got a 7/10 score from Steam (which is a 0.5 score improvement compared to last time round if I recall correctly), Path of Exile got a 9/10. So yeah, Steam got me sold on this one.

Steeper learning curve (plus why you should/shouldn't be playing this as a SingTel subscriber)

My first impression on the game is that it has a steep learning curve compared to the other two games I've played before (namely, Marvel Heroes and Neverwinter). Firstly, be mentally prepared to spend like 2-3 days finishing a quest if you're a casual gamer. The reason why being that navigation in PoE is anything but idiot proof. In fact, the interface can be seen as anti-idiot proof (then again, you can just hop onto the wiki here).

When we talk about navigation, there's no map for you (well, you can press tab, but that will only highlight the areas covered). You have to run around killing stuff (or getting yourself killed for that matter) if you want to truly appreciate the game. In certain stages, there is a waypoint. However, you'll need to find it to unlock that waypoint. At the same time, please remember to left click once you stand on top of it. That thing won't activate itself like some auto-sensor mechanism. Once you unlock the waypoint, you'll be able to instant-teleport from the respective stage to Lioneye's Watch (apparently, I'm still stuck at Act 1). Otherwise, you'll need to use a portal scroll.

Note: Above section was done earlier than today. Apparently, I'm now at Forest Encampment.

On the Singtel part, it depends on your choice. If there's anything I've found out, it'd be that Singtel is good for casual browsing, not so good for online gaming. In Neverwinter, you can get away with lag so as to speak. This is due to any lag resulting in a delay in the animation being executed. For PoE, lag means your moves won't come out. Period. I suspect this has got something to do with the quality of the instance servers where the presence of lag is concerned. The issue may lie in data processing where the difference between Neverwinter and PoE is that of delay versus a literal non-response.

Note: Come to think of it, I have to thank SingTel for honing my tactical senses via the fact that you'll need at least a Starhub connection to game online without lag death.

Masters Everywhere!

It's quite hilarious when I invented the title above. Period.

If there's anything I've learnt, it'd be not to log off after taking on a Master's mission when they first popped up. If you decide to take the mission, please finish it. Period. This is to ensure that Master would appear in the respective town. So far so good, I've unlocked Elreon, Tora, and Catarina in order of appearance. Hopefully, I can unlock Vorici once Faustean reaches Sarn. I've gotten Elreon at level 3 with Catarina at level 2. Once Tora reaches level 2 as well, it means the Library hideout won't feel so boring. That plus Purity of Elements. Period.

Note: Hopefully, I can up a post on my current experience with Masters so far.

Zerg and anti-zerg

The trademark of any mob in this game is the process of zerging. This can get quite sticky in stages like Prison (for Act I) and... well, basically any stage in Act II. Therefore, it's only right to devise an anti-zerging strategy (especially so if you're a Shadow since the key stats are Intelligence and Dexterity, neither giving you an increment in Life). Anti-zerging can be broadly classified into three categories.

Cat I:

This involves the synergy of aggro-grab and smash, something which tanks and off tanks are known to do in any MMO. There are three types of Warcry skills: Abyssal Cry, Enduring Cry, and Rallying Cry. Basically, this is the aggro-grabbing part. As for the smashing part, go for skills like Molten Strike, Blade Flurry, and Molten Shell. As for support gems, go for Melee Splash.

Examples of beneficiaries from Cat I: Marauders (basically any one of them), dps-based Templars (preferably with Abyssal Cry and plenty of direct damage skills), and Strength-based Duelists (only with sufficient Armour rating)

Cat II:

This involves a core AoE move and a high damage attack. While this can be very tank-friendly, it's more suited for damage dealing builds relying on evasion more oft than not. The AoE aspect is there to soften up the mob, after which the high damage attack will be responsible for taking them out. The former aspect is quite straightforward, the latter aspect requires a one-two synergy between the default attack and a staple direct attack skill. For support gems, go for the added damage types.

Examples of beneficiaries from Cat II: Marauders (mainly for the Str-Dex build), Witches (basically any of them), Rangers (same as their gender BFF), Duelists (same as their gender opposite paramours), and Dexterity-based Shadows (because the best offence is their best defence)

Cat III:

No, this doesn't involve Hong Kong. Rather, Cat III is all about pure anti-zerging. By that, I mean each and every single move (apart from default attack) being 100% AoE-centric. Not only that, Cat III is all about pure AoE direct damage. Also, Melee Splash.

Examples of beneficiaries from Cat III: Basically every manner of Shadow and Witches choosing the dps route.

Oriath and Wraeclast+Catalans and Germans=Tinkering

Have to say the progression was a case of hitting the slow burner. The map system is done in such a way that you'll need to cover ground. Not every inch of it per se, but the map system is done in such a way that it will only register the parts of terrain which you've been to. Interestingly, it seems that levelling up in Act I may be far easier (and faster) compared to levelling up in Act II and onward. At this point of time, levelling up has slowed down. In Act I, I actually hit like around 20 levels. In Act II, the pace slowed down to more than half (i.e. around 8 levels up). In other words, it's very likely that Act I is meant to get the players used to the overall difficulty in Normal mode. Which now comes to an interesting question: Should the monster level denote anything significant?

Firstly, it must be stated that the monster level should be seen as the median standard. You don't expect to fight a level 12 Brutus in Act I: Prison Break just because the prison zone has a monster level of 12. Secondly, the monster level is more likely an indication of challenge directed towards the hardcore gamers. In other words, do not assume your current zone is reserved for casual gamers of X level just because the monster level is of the same value. Because I'm very sure it's not.

Gameplay in Path of Exile is all about two things: Resistance and passive skills. The former is more towards the gear while the latter is about Life and damage. My personal recommendation would be selecting your choice of gear based on resistance as the first priority. As for the passive skill tree, try to get Power whenever possible (this is due to plenty of zerging in the game). Otherwise, either you focus on Intelligence (only for Witches) or Dexterity (Shadows and Duelists). Another thing of note is slowing down. If you think elemental attacks are bad... well, you're actually right. Try fighting the squid queen and Shelob. The former wasn't that bad (unless you're dumb enough to ditch the movement buff flask), the latter means you'll have to be luckier than Frodo Baggins because not even that fat Sam can save you from absolute death once she webs you (again, this is proof that you need that movement buff flask).

Act I is very important both plot-wise and gameplay-wise. Plot-wise because I won't be surprised if the likes of Tarkleigh, Bestel, and that oh-so-beautiful Nessa will appear in the next mod where Oriath will do its own downfall of Rome. Gameplay wise because you only have this much of a time to get used to the zerging and unique boss fights. Act II is where the actual battle starts, so please make sure you have your fighting style down pat. Or at least knowing what you should be doing. If there's anything outstanding about this game, it'd be that planning your character build is far less a hassle than MMO cynics otherwise thought. You only need to know three things: The manner of your dps (pure Power, Power-Dex, or pure spell spam), which stats you want to focus on, and whether you prefer a single stat build or dual stat build.

Once you know what you want in terms of stats, the hard part comes. That is dealing with the fights. In order to do so correctly, you'll need to decide whether you want to be a brave idiot (read: stand and fight build) or an intelligent coward (read: hit and run build). At the same time, there are moments where infinite respawn happens. This is particularly true in any boss fights where reinforcements will arrive in fixed intervals after you got rid of the current wave. What this means is that an effective mob clearing approach is a must where asap becomes the magic word.

On the move set, you need to decide clearly what to use and when. At the same time, know your staple move and bread-butter approach. The former means pulling off your first move, the latter indicating what to do 7 times out of 10. Using default attack as the bread-butter may be recommended in early game, but it may not be that effective in mid or late game (more specifically, using default attack in this manner for mid or late game should never be recommended for Rangers. Duelists, and Shadows due to a piss poor defensive game which depends mostly on the Evasion rate).

The moveset is what got me sold apart from the passive skill tree. The customising factor is verily good. The passive skill tree is all about ease of usage (read: you only need to use this much of your brain to get things done right), the moveset is more testing on your actual intelligence. You can create all sorts of crazy builds, believe it or not. In other words, the only difference between a genius and a muppet lies in whether it works or not. In this sense, Path of Exile can be seen as quite anti-Singaporean. Don't believe me? Take my dare, think like a Singaporean when playing this game. The fact that you have an effective Marauder means sod all if my Shadow is tactically better than your Karui. After all, Pep is never a Singaporean botak in the same way Joachim is never a Singaporean Löwe. And let's not talk about the fact that Conte being a Singaporean tactical genius means a prolonged stay at the IMH.

Some issues with the game (because I suddenly feel like being Steve Jobs)

There are two main things I have a problem with. Namely, a gross lack of inventory space and the half-baked mapping system.

The former means you'll have to use portal scrolls more often than not. While portal scrolls do drop quite frequently, using them just because you need to offload a few stuff is nothing short of disruptive. Gaming experience hinges heavily on momentum. Tactically speaking, it's nothing. But the process of gaming is never just about the mind. It's also about the heart. Imagine feeling bummed just because you're on the roll and you have to use a portal scroll for an unwanted timeout. And let's not get me started on what happens if you slot in a Rampage Leaguestone ("I'm making a killing and now I need to do a port!!!!!").

If the former feels like a trifling, I can understand. The way the mapping system works means you're definitely screwed if you have to stop playing the game for the day without finding the exit. It's virtually a case of ground zero. There are those who don't mind this since they want to be the Wraeclast's Next Top Guts or Oriath's Next Top Kratos. Then there are those who only want the whole damn navigation over and done with (in particular, I'm born an idiot when it comes to navigation and getting disoriented). There's a reason why I am still wasting time running about in my bid to exit the Northern Forest stage.

At the same time, this game can be quite challenging on two fronts. First, it's the difficulty level. Secondly, you'll need to devote a certain amount of time to excel unlike the more casual friendly stuff like Neverwinter. In fact, I won't be surprised if Path of Exile requires around 2-3 hrs of daily gaming time for any given character to excel beyond Normal mode (okay, maybe only Merciless mode. Depends on how good a gamer you are, I guess). Depending on your gaming schedule, this may mean a great deal. And this is not to mention any end game content will involve enemies 12 levels above the maximum character level cap (read: their level 82 is higher than your level 70). On the flip side, however, it also means you won't have anything to do once you break the level 82 glass ceiling. *shrugs*

My advice to anyone interested in taking on this monster of a game is very simple. While the game won't force you to play a raiding party, this option helps a lot if you're not one to burn the midnight oil just to take down a boss in a stage where your level is higher than the monster level. However, it must be stated that if you want to join a guild (not necessary if you're only out to do the occasional party raid), please be mentally prepared to devote a certain amount of time to learn and game on a consistent basis (in particularly, joining a guild helps a megaton lot when it comes to doing any end game raids).

Immediate plans

I won't be ditching Neverwinter. After all, I've devoted too much time and resources to it for me to hand in a transfer request from Manchester United to Borussia Dortmund (so as to speak). As of now, I need to devote more gaming time in this context due to the double refinement event coming up two weeks later or so. I really need to rejig my gear where Arylos is concerned (read: maxing out a Greater Twined Rope of Dexterity and getting a mystic DC sigil). In fact, my HR main is far from end game level. For the time being, I'll need to allocate my gaming time in such a way that I don't have to burn the midnight oil for dumb reasons. Thankfully, Path of Exile doesn't require a daily grind to make things count (read: number of quests apart from the map fights aren't that a lot to start with).

List of Path of Exile characters (because I got nothing better to do)

List of protagonists:

Faustean

(aka the Night Wolf)

Zig

(aka Lancer of the Songs)

Katoi

(aka the Lost)

Sigmurgen

(aka The Saint)

 Jayne Hyen

(aka Jayne Doe)

Mortana

(aka the Living Curse)

Guinieve

(aka the Noble One)

Possibility of romance:

Who would have imagined such a day? The day where the line between fear and love first blurred, the day where Nessa made a leashed dog out of a wolf untamable. Tarkleigh could only give her his blessings. More than anyone else, he understood respect where the Night Wolf is concerned.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Nessa

She detested him, she knew the manner of his birth. The dashing duelist could say all he want when it come to disowning his lineage. No semblance of self-justification would ever sate her anger towards the manner of Tolman's death. Yet, there seemed to be something in him. Something which reminded her of a love so cruelly robbed days ago.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Clarissa

Others could see the anger in a beast, she saw a purity in a soul. It was both pristine and crimson red, full of primal rage and surreal calm.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Yeena

He hated those exiles. They were the reason why so much grief and many a tragedy happened to his tribe. He saw his betrothed raped and enslaved by Oak, her lovely figure never to be seen again. His father was burnt alive by Alira while that dastardly Kraityn plundered whatever little his kin has gleaned. As for that witch... she reminded him of the woman he loved. Foul sorcery afoot surely.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Greust