Gonna try something here (not the omurice)

Before I get started, let me just say that I've started doing this post like 2-3 weeks ago with some of my Omurice views here and there. However, I decided that maybe I should have a hand in video analysis. It's not exactly a case of VAR. But still, video analysis is fun. Or at least I guess so.

Before I start, however...

I realised something... well, weird. As a monocultural nation, you don't expect Japan and/or South Korea to have anyone saying "hi" to my website. Yes, I did include the Google translate option (just don't ask me how efficient because I can't be bothered to find that out). But when it's monocultural, you can be very sure it's really monocultural.

This was last week.

This was yesterday

I don't want to speculate why (let alone whether the likes of BoA and Park "why always Park?" Shin-hye does consider themselves gamers like Jaedong).

Spoiler: Both Flash and Jaedong share the same surname as that Samsung guy. 

I still find it amusing, though. I mean, you don't expect South Koreans to speak English instead of their native Korean tongue. If you don't know what this means, go understand a wee bit of sociology.

Note: Kids, your role models shouldn't be people and things you don't know. I'm pretty sure this had spread to the correct half of the Korean Peninsula.

404 raid success not found

A couple of days ago or so, I went for another round of epic Spellplague. This time around, I failed to clear the second boss.

The people in NWO did an article on Spellplague N ages ago, so I just need to list down my observations Basically, my analysis will focus on four aspects. Namely, the mob, Kabal, the steiner, and Nostura. At the same time, please ignore whatever relevant stuff you read here.

Mob tactics in this game tend to be very one dimensional. The close combat ones would play zerg while the ranged ones would stay behind. As a result, it's very easy to deal with any given mob under the standard 1 tank, 1 healer, and 3 dps standard format. However, it also means any mob can maximise the damage dealt in the shortest way possible. At the same time, taking out the artillery first isn't that easy since any epic raid instance would involve the AI having very high defensive stats (Grey Wolf Den, in particular, involves physical hard hitters with stormcallers being the most annoying artillery one can get in end-game). Which makes taking out the archers a viable aspect of the gameplay since the damage stacking would be reduced. Not to mention as well archers tend to die the fastest. In any party without a TR, taking out archers can be tricky since dealing with any mob requires the dps to be concentrated in one area. TRs tend to excel in single target damage with AoE attacks as support. As such, all you need is to throw in an AoE attack or two to soften the mob, after which you can just take a short detour to take out the archers. Two things done in a go. If we're talking about stormcallers, then Cloud of Steel plus either Smoke Bomb or Path of Blades.

In Spellplague, it's the same. However, the fight would most likely be littered with AoE minefields, no matter whose army your party gets to fight. This is a raid where you'd need two buffers and a tank to perform well. This is not to say the standard 1 tank, 1 healer, and 3 dps party format won't work. Rather, the standard format would pose a challenge in staying alive due to an insanely high mob damage. In fact, any raids of the highest end would most likely require more buffers and less dps (Fangbreaker is another classic example of this end-game logic). So long you have a DO pulling off Terrifying Insight with Hallowed Ground spam, the raid would be made easier. Trust me when I say while HG is now less spammable, it remains as the most spammable move in any DC's arsenal. Ofc you can try the raid with an AC as your party cleric. AC clerics tend to have better survival game and survival is very important to any DC in the party. Anointed Armor goes well with either Anointed Action (survival and dps), Light of Divinity (mass heal), and Hastening Light (less cooldown=better party damage). Blessing of Battle is also good, but DO remains one of, if not the best, party buffer with the major drawback being DOs having a higher risk of death than the AC (unless the AC is dumb enough not to use a rank 4 Anointed Armor).

For melee dps (apart from great weapon fighters), Spellplague presents a great challenge. The presence of multiple AoE bombing means one thing: You can't just go in there, whack the opposition, and hope to survive by not getting out. Ranged dps characters won't have it hard so long the tank is good enough and their attack range is long enough, but TRs and combat HRs would end up with a massive handicap as such players would have to get out of the way more often than not. GWFs have Unstoppable, but you don't get to see an unstoppable TR or HR in the same way you don't expect Gambit, Nightcrawler, or even Deadpool for that matter to fight like Juggernaut. If you're wanting to raid Spellplague as a TR, please make sure you have either Smoke Bomb (for CC) or Path of Blades (for AoE support damage) together with Cloud of Steel. If you're a combat HR, please come up with either an effective buff-dps game or an equally effective CC-dps approach. If possible at all, try including all three. Unlike any TR, combat HRs are able to hold their own when it comes to the triple approach strategy. Go with Oak Skin as it boosts both your survival chances and that of the entire party. Even if there is an effective tank-healing in your party, there's a need to keep the healer alive so that the tank can stay alive. This is especially important given that DCs now have their defense stat nerfed (basically the same story as the TR nerf). If the DC is a DO, then that's even more important. If you're a trapper, however, go with Hawkeye in order to create an effective stance switch game (i.e. stance switch>Hawkeye>Disruptive Shot bazooka>go back to ranged mode and keep opening fire). A dps based Aspect of the Serpent build is also viable, but the fact remains that the HR does have the worst dodge game. Like ever.

I personally find Fox's Shift to be quite effective. However, CC from this move is not enough as the combat HR is still primarily a dps build. Which now comes to Seeker's Vengeance. I know a lot of gamers may say this is a useless class feature, but that's because a consistent attack-from-behind game is needed to make this class feature worth its 4 ranks. No other move can do this job nicely like Fox's Shift. This is because whenever this move hits twice on any target, one hit can easily land at the front and the other hit landing from behind. In fact, the cooldown of this move is an indication of successful proc per every X seconds where X refers to the cooldown. By itself, it's not a big deal. If you can unlock the off-hand artifact weapon power for SV, the damage over time can go a long way. Not just in any epic raid, but more importantly raids like Spellplague where only great weapon fighters are able to stand their ground and fight as the melee dps. If you're a pathfinder, set your off-hand artifact weapon power to Aspect of the Pack instead as the PF doesn't have many options in terms of damage dealing. If you're a stormwarden, then the equation should be easy: Twin-Blade Storm with your artifact weapon power set at Seeker's Vengeance.

At this point in time, let me give an advice to any TR or combat HR crazy enough to run epic Spellplague: Damage over time is your BFF here. Without an effective DoT, your dps is as good as zero due to the cluster bombing preventing you from sustaining the damage dealing. For any TR, it should be Cloud of Steel due to its accumulative damage. Also, please engage whoever is the one behind in charge of the artillery while pulling off AoE attacks on the mobs.

Against Kabal, I realised one thing: To grab the fireball and use it on him, you'll need to connect the chain to the ball. In other words, there should be two types of fireballs. The first type is used to melt the chain. The other is used to blast open Kabal's super armor. It should be easy to know which one is which. If the chain doesn't break, then it means you can use the fireball against Kabal (just make sure the fireball doesn't get you first). Otherwise, just deal with the adds after the chain breaks. Once you get how the fireball mechanic is being done, dealing with Kabal should be easy. That is provided you got a guardian fighter-healer combo (note: Knight's Valor is a must) or a tankadin (note: tankadins are good for solo tanking, so please plan accordingly since tankadins have some challenges in maintaining aggro-grab beyond using Aura of Radiance).

Against the steiner mid-boss, just stand outside the reddest circle. Once it decided to pull off a mega AoE attack, there should be either a massive red circle or one redder circle inside a bigger (not so) red circle. The former is easy to deal with. Hulk Smash, but no one will die if decent mass-protection is done. Yes, it will prone everyone within range, so get your control resist ready if possible. Either that or please have Oppressor's Reprieve ready. For the latter, just don't stand far away from the boss. If my guess is right, there should only be one redder circle. Standing just outside its edge should result in a lesser pushback compared to anywhere else beyond the circle. However, this also means only 1-2 party members can afford to position themselves this way. Let the tank have it first followed by the melee damage dealers. As for the ranged members (DCs and the rest), just dodge (or dash for that matter) towards the boss. So you don't end up standing in the wrong circle, all you need is to move forward once the law of physics gets triggered. Spellplague is definitely a raid where you can't do without a tank. In other words, the redder circle should appear closer to the boss if things go right.

Against Nostura, just a few things to note. Once the stonehenge portals open, Nostura will trigger a high damage move which is the nearest thing to an offensive Taepodong. Suffice to say, Nostura is nowhere to be seen at this stage. However, the interval nuking won't just stop at a single blast. The eyes of Sauron must be passed through asap. Tanks and great weapon fighters should just go ahead since they're pretty much the most durable members of any party. As for the rest, make sure they stay within the healer's range. If you have a combat HR using Oak Skin, it means one more member being able to split off so that passing through the eyes of Sauron can be made faster (i.e. easier). Please note that any buff done by the HR has an insane reach. So long the allies are within eyeshot, there's no such thing as reach limitation.

Once all the eyes of Sauron have been passed through, Nostura is officially fightable again. At this point in time, it's better for her to baited towards a planar tear (or whatever you wanna call that blue piece of fire on the ground). One personal observation I've made during my first Spellplague run was that any blue piece of fire has a chance of being damage-immune. On the first glance, it's a bug. A glitch like how any party can exploit against Traven Blackdagger in epic Cragmire Crypts. However, this may possibly be a tactical mechanic since the devs would review the game difficulty at certain intervals (something which was already done during mod 7). Either way, try getting Nostura near any blue piece of fire (read: the nearest one, okay?). Once your party manage to pull it off, every blue piece of fire should lose its damage immunity.

One thing of note is that if any party member fails to enter even one eye of Sauron, that fellow would be effectively locked out from Nostura's Feywild zone. However, this doesn't mean nothing should be done where that odd one out is concerned. In this case of tactical friendzone, the outsider (I'm making this sounds like a yeth hound) should target the tentacles. Being tactically friendzoned doesn't mean you can't impress the Khaleesi (or whoever is your party leader since I'm sure Emilia "404 Jon and Daario not found" Clarke won't have the time to play MMOs). Just kill the Japanese tentacles because those things won't get you. Like ever. Use the rules to your favor if you can't do anything about them. Don't laugh. I got tactically friendzoned before and that's how I proved myself to be more useful than Jorah Mormont. I'm not someone who would stand there and do nothing if nothing can be seemingly done. Unless of course there's really nothing to be done, that is.

Then you have the moment where the ritual goes haywire. The same thing applies where the blue pieces of fire are concerned (but no stonehenge portals). In this case, the party can afford to move as one in a single direction since there's no point risking death by splitting up the party (read: Nostura will just do another Taepodong albeit a faster one). If possible, the DC should pull off a Hallowed Ground. Otherwise, do an Astral Shield near the edge where the blue pieces of fire are situated. Beyond an effective mass-protection and mass-heal game, there's nothing any party can do without getting wiped. Which means the healer cannot die (read: the correct way to create a healer lies in an effective buff game rather than going for a pure heal faithful DC or a pure light Healadin). Whether Knight's Valor can negate the nuke is beyond my knowledge because I don't have a guardian fighter as my alt.

Once your party manage to navigate things this far, killing the boss should be much easier than the previous two-thirds of the fight. However, Nostura is capable of doing a Thanato gambit. Once her HP drops to the lowest point possible, she will do something like a last-ditch Taepodong. This move can easily kill just about any party member apart from the tank. The only way to prevent this from happening is to ensure Nostura dies before she sets off her bomb. This is where damage over time comes into the picture since it can stack very well with direct high-end damage.

Note: It seems that Nostura would always curse those facing her just like how her steiner eye works. This makes tank healing and protecting even more important. So long your healer stays at the side instead of the front, things should be safe. Just don't get me started on the yuan-ti. That thing is super annoying since circling around the eye won't guarantee the attack will miss. Pulling off a William Tell has never been so crazy before.

Current changes and how I may end up approaching the raid

I spent 116K+ worth of astral diamonds to rejig Arylos' feats and boons for the raiding loadout. I ended up doing 4 key changes.

1. I maxed out Battlewise (6% reduced threat).

2. I opted 1 pt for Titan's Affinity and 1 pt for Chill of Winter instead of two pts for the latter.

3. I allocated 1 pt each for Tyrant's Terror, Shamanic Grace, and Overgrown.

4. Instead of Death's Blessing, I now opted for Soul Syphon.

On the offensive slots, I decided to focus on azures and a couple of brutals instead of brutals and radiants. As for the class features, I've officially switched the artifact class feature buff to Aspect of the Pack instead of Seeker's Vengeance with Blade Storm as the second class feature.

The reason why is that I'm now going for a more crit-based build. The problem with too much power is never about being corrupted (after all, this is a fictional game, not real-life politics). Rather, the damage return for power does scale down as the power rating gets bigger. This is to ensure critical hits and armor penetration do have a major role to play instead of... well, absolute power. If your guild doesn't have barracks, it means you're better off slotting radiant in every offensive slot. Otherwise, you may need to start thinking whether 30K power or so should be the correct cap. Arylos now got like 31K power. This is taking into account the post-enchantment switch. This is a number which I felt more comfortable with. With the radiant enchantments (all on rank 9) in the defensive slots, it's a case of higher HP and lower defense. With Assassin's Covenant still a choice in my active mount insignia bonuses, what it means is that the power bonus given by AC is officially reduced. However, there's a catch in this equation: I have Oak Skin. This encounter power is a must for ever combat HR. Not only does it give a decent defensive-heal over time boost to every party member in a single area (something which only a HR can do buff-wise), it's also a life-saver. You can try running through any epic without it, but you're most likely screwed if your party decided to do a speedrun. Seriously, there was one time where no one told me the party was about to speedrun epic Grey Wolf Den. Miraculously, someone died in the process while I managed to survive. As the last man running behind, no less. It was crazy to see that despite circumstances stacked against me (note that every single critter in this raid, half or full, can deal insane damage with the half-critters having high mobility and good defense for an unarmored mob). If not for a combination of healing potion, stone of health, healing potion guild boon, and Oak Skin, I'd have died at least twice or thrice. In fact, this was the reason why I decided to do a feat- boon respec (read: Titan's Affinity).

For Soul Syphon, I need to have better dps. Even though the combat HR is still counted as a dps build, it must be stated that it's still considered a mid-tier dps. Hence, buffing and CC are more important compared to the dps. Seriously, you think a thaumaturge CW, executioner TR, or even a saboteur TR would deal less damage? Soul Syphon adds some much-needed muscle. But to make that thing work, I may need more HP regeneration. This is where Shamanic Grace. With a higher HP per rank together with the fact that this is a HP regen boon, I can strike a better balance between defense and offense. Which is definitely the hardest thing to do for any combat HR unless Oak Skin is factored in (some may even say impossible at all due to poor dodge distance and high mob damage in any epic raid).

Concerning the switch in class features, it means more of a stand-and-fight approach. Something which shouldn't be problematic in any raid so long Oak Skin is active. In Spellplague Caverns, however, this may prove to be a bit dodgy. Most likely I'll favor taking on the artillery with Plant Growth triggered on the main mob when it comes to Kabal's fire and iron army. For Gyrion's blue army, the easiest ones to kill are the floating eyes. Get rid of them, then go after the teleporting mages. Apply plenty of damage over time and see those annoying trolls bleed to death. For Nostura's mother nature army, just target the dryads. They tend to stay as one behind the main mob, unlike Gyrion's case where the mages would stay behind while the floating eyes should be deployed nearer to the main mob. Unlike Kabal's fire and iron army, you can be very sure there's more than just 1-2 of them. Maybe like 3-4 of them. Simply put, it's easier to rack up the damage. No matter whether which/whose army I have to deal with, I need to ensure Soul Syphon can be proc'd. If there's any part of my plan more important than just the dps, it's this.

For Myrreas, it's pure damage over time. Smoke the main mob with Smoke Bomb and Duelist's Flurry the Nine Hells out of the artillery. Red zone? Just dodge since the TR has the longest dodge distance. Against Gyrion's blue army, this should be very easy since the Smoke Bomb can cover both the floating eyes and the main mob, after which Duelist's Flurry can just DoT the Nine Hells out of those annoying mages (seriously, their teleporting skill is the gaming equivalent of trolling). Against Kabal, it should be Smoke Bomb and Cloud of Steel with Duelist's Flurry applying the bleeding on Kabal once he drops his plot armor. Steiner mid-boss should be okay so long the tank is doing his/her job. In other words, all I need is to resist the law of physics at work once it triggers with Duelist's Flurry being spammed on that thing. Against Nostura, it's pure Duelist's Flurry and Smoke Bomb combo with Shadow Strike refreshing the stealth and Blitz acting as the secondary encounter damage source. Against the blue pieces of fire, it's Cloud of Steel so that I don't have to move around much in order to tear those blue things down.

For Cyrea, it's Astral  Shield and Divine Glow with Searing Light on standby due to encounter power cooldown. Due to her sun elf lineage and the fact that I pretty gave her every action points boon available in-game (apart from Soothing Zephyr since I've yet to use her for the River District), the AP gauge can fill up very fast. This also gives me a legit reason to slot in Tiamat's Orb of Majesty where a single roar can fix a mob in no time. Hallowed Ground spam is a must unless you don't know how to use a DC properly in any given raid. It's the same for Kabal and the steiner. Against Nostura, it's either using Break the Spirit or using the Divine Glow-Astral Shield combo. Searing Light can also be used as the secondary source of healing. Again, Hallowed Ground. Use it in Nostura's Feywild zone and when she starts screaming something about a ritual epic fail. Then use it again when her HP drops to... like, nigh tiefpunkt since you know that's the real sign of a last-ditch nuke. Given that I've got no intention to change the Prophetic Action-Terrifying Insight class features combo, that should say something.