A tale of two characters Pt II (from two games no less)

I blame a certain online op-ed website named after every Asian's carbo staple food, namely the RICE Media. At the same time, I also blame a fellow Asian (?) who happened to go by the name of Mayim Bialik. Because of the two of you, I decided to join the "fun" by writing my very own op-ed on the #MeToo hashtag. And when I say "fun", be very sure any sexual atrocity is anything but "fun". Unless you happen to be a bloody mangkuk enjoying grabbing a woman's mangkuk. In this case, you deserve 20 years in jail (minus any charge for contempt of court) after shouting "OH MAK KAU!!!!" in front of the judge and/or jury. It won't matter how attractively dressed your victim is or even whether she's a Malay (hence, the O.M.K). My response to you by then? #NotMyProblem

Note: Yes, I know Ken "#NotMyProblem" Jeong is Korean instead of Chinese. It's like confusing Aragaki "not to be confused with another type of gaki" Yui for Park "why always Park?"Shin-hye.

Add Note: Of course, I won't do my op-ed here. This blog is for gaming, not for roasting any showbiz culture.

404 girlfriend Not Found

After a long time in hiatus where doing my Neverwinter analysis is concerned, it's good to be back. Hopefully, the signori and signoras from 404 Italian Not Found are still around. For the sake of the Italians and Romans, not mine (after all, Kuok Minghui is Asian just like any Jeong, Aragaki, and Park).

The name of the game is 404, the label is 404 Trapper Not Found instead of 404 girlfriends not found. Before I start, let me introduce the one guy who started the GAR. Or more specifically, the word GAR since Guts was the one creating the GAR concept before the G-word was coined.

The Korean law

For quite some time, I noticed something. Whenever the clock strikes beyond 12, the connection would die. Or at least reduced to a catatonic state. I don't know why, but I recently uncovered something interesting due to my inner (Singaporean) cat. Paranoid or not, my life is no stranger to absurdities. From getting punched in the stomach for no apparent cause during my Gan Eng Seng years to unwarranted betrayal during my ITE years, if I can't find the reason why, it means I have the right to call it an absurdity. It could have been worse, though. After all, the willingness to forgive doesn't always translate to the ability to forget. If there's any absurdity yet to happen, it'd be Ms Park (not the one subjected to verbal torture) stating her admiration for me. Now that'd be the greatest absurdity (not to mention as well scores of salty Koreans running after me in the name of taekwondo justice).

A/N: Practically speaking (right now), Neverwinter was lagging really bad last night. I swear my last Prophecy of Madness run was a case of my tactical awareness carrying the entire party. -.-'

A tale of two characters: Archer and Arylos

Both names start off with the same two alphabets. One is certified GAR, (hopefully) the other is also GAR. One is a faker, the other belongs to a class that pretends to be a swordsman (or so the stereotypical ranger would like you to believe in). One has the mind of steel, the other... well, he's supposed to be fashioned after Archer's resolve of steel ever since my sis inspired me to up my (online) tactical awareness via bandwidth gluttony. And ofc it doesn't help that Arylos' looks were based off that of Archer. Role wise, they're either the weapons expert or the brains of RWS Samhain. Most likely both if you're to ask me, though.

Lastly, both are cynical. While I'm not at their level, the cold hard truth about myself is that I still do identify myself with them via a watered down version. That's why I don't trust people unless they can prove it on merit. I won't show it blatantly, but being silent doesn't mean my past was as happy as yours. Then again, I'm willing to trust people either in the name of necessity, face value, or both. Just don't expect me to... well, expect the best out of others. In fact, I can't even do that to myself. 

完全リコール~無償

Yes, I know this sounds like some J-drama starring Aragaki "not to be confused with another type of gaki" Yui. However, the reason why I put up this header has got nothing to do with (the correct) Aragaki-san being the other Kanzaki Nao alongside whoever is to be the other Akiyama Shinichi in a Liar Game spoof. Rather, I actually discovered I got 1 respec token opened up for Arylos. It's either that or Cryptic decided to give me one free of charge.

Either way, I ended up doing a respec. Because one token only works for one loadout, I made a daring decision to use that "free" token instead of opening another one (to set the record straight, I still have two tokens from last year's Simril). The reason why is very simple. I decided to play around with the other loadout by using it for open world PvE without the need to respec. Give me a choice and I rather not spend 116K astral diamonds per loadout.

It's actually very easy due to my ideal headgear officially purchased. The unchanged loadout involved a focus on offensive boons. This loadout was originally for raiding, but I realised I can use to do open world due to the 2K defense it gives whenever not in a party. In other words, I could use that loadout to kill reptiles, goblins, Thayans, etc. That is so long it's not a T-Rex (not to be confused with the Secretary of State also known as Rex.T).

Ultimately, all I need is a 完全リコール on the moveset. Below is the list of the unchanged loadout.
[Note: For the sake of lessening my workload, I decided to be lazy by listing only the melee version of the relevant powers]

Mounts and Insignias

Insignias used: Dominance, Courage, and Refuge

Current update: Uncommon regal insignia of dominance has been replaced by rare regal insignia of dominance.

Sword of Kelemvor

(I'm not joking here even though I'm being pompous)

Stronghold boons: Power (Barracks), Defense (Stables), XP (Barracks)

Sharandar boons: Dark Fey Hunter, Fey Precision, Elven Haste, Elven Ferocity, Elvish Fury

Dread Ring boons: Conjurer's Gambit, Evoker's Thirst, Illusion Shimmer, Enraged Regrowth, Rampaging Madness

Icewind Dale boons: Encroaching Tactics, Appreciation of Warmth, Sleet Skills, Cold Shoulder, Rousing Warmth

Tyranny of Dragons boons: Dragonheart, Dragon's Gaze, Draconic Armorbreaker, Dragon's Revival (rank 2), Dragon's Fury (rank 1)
Elemental Evil: Wave of Force, Earth's Renewal, Searing Aggression, Gale of Retribution
Underdark: Primordial Might, Primordial Focus, Drow Ambush Tactics, Dwarven Footing, Abyssal Strikes
Maze Engine boons: Abyssal Regeneration, Demonic Influence, Demonic Swiftness, Baphomet's Might
PvP: Legion's Valor (basically useless bar running into PvP zone in preparation for any demonic heroic encounter in Icewind Dale)
Storm King's Thunder: Frosty Demeanor, Survival Instincts, Icy Wrath, Vengeful Heat, Chill of Winter (rank 1)
The Cloaked Ascendancy: Aura of Hope (hopefully, this means feedback effect via the cat), Fey Briars, Fiery Frenzy, Planar Vitality
Jungles of Chult: Overgrown (rank 2)

Moveset:
At-will powers: Clear the Ground (main hand artifact weapon power), Aimed Strike
Encounter powers: Plant Growth, Fox's Shift, Rain of Swords
Daily powers: Forest Ghost, Disruptive Shot
Class features: Blade Storm (off hand artifact weapon power), Twin-Blade Storm

How the whole thing works:
It's actually very straightforward. This is a direct case of CC-dps. At the same time, this build is also about using combat advantage to up the dps. The weakness for this build lies in the what-if where I'm dealing with control immune enemies. Thankfully, such enemies are considered the minority. In fact, I doubt they'd appear equally frequent as the control immune ones in Marvel Heroes (not that you'd see such mooks appearing that often in the latter case anyway).

The rule of thumb for deflection should read like "always easier to pull off in open world than raids." This is also why I choose Wilds Medicine as one of my paragon feats. On control resist, this may look dodgy at first. But trust me, you'll need it in Chult. Once you enter Jurrasic Park, it won't be some beautiful Korean Park ambushing you.

Seriously, if you think you'll be getting jumped in the best way ever, you're a moron deserving a roundhouse at the cranium. If you're actually focusing on the Korean bosom, you deserve roundhouse at the cranium plus a stomp. Vegetable or kimchi, choose your preferred brain death.

Getting jumped on is painful, but having protection makes the fight less painful. In particular, the allosaurus is annoying as the Nine Hells even though you're dealing with it mano-a-mano. As for the T-Rex, all I can say is that you're definitely not dealing with Rex.T. That one is a human being, not a Godzilla (to be more accurate, Godzilla in the Chultan context refers to the King of Spines due to its atomic breath).

Rain of Swords is all about damage. Just get close, do your Unlimited Blade Works, and wait for them to die from unlimited blade haemorrhage. While this is half a longshot against bosses, I won't be surprised if this is useful against that damn allosaurus. The only problem? Reptiles are known for having high mobility, hence a 50-50 call in nailing one on them. Note, however, that Clear the Ground deals more damage when you're closer to the enemies. The reason why I say enemies instead of enemy is very simple. The AoE is certified imba, the damage is even more so when you use Lightning enchant.

On the daily powers, Forest Ghost is used 70-80% of the time while Disruptive Shot is reserved for the occasional quickling on a double high (i.e. that one Batiri sikeena riding on a dinosaur).

Defensive wise, it's a combo of Josan, Negation, and whatever deflect proc heal triggered. Because deflection game is now easier and much more practical for the combat spec (at least you don't have to be a lone wolf to make the meds count), it means Blade Storm and Twin-Blade Storm as the two no-brainers. Then there's the accumulative power bonus via the Bazubands. Factor in Rousing Warmth and you got yourself one hell of a counter-offensive force de la nature. Also, that is not taking into account the cooldown reduction per hit via Lightning enchant and the relevance it has on the Lucky Blades and Blade Hurricane feats.

Knight of Feywild

Stronghold boons: Power (Barracks), Defense (Stables), Healing Potion (Wizard's Workshop)

Sharandar boons: Dark Fey Warder, Fey Precision, Feywild Fortitude, Elven Ferocity, Elvish Fury

Dread Ring boons: Conjurer's Gambit, Evoker's Thirst, Forbidden Piercing, Enraged Regrowth, Rampaging Madness

Icewind Dale boons: Encroaching Tactics, Appreciation of Warmth, Sleet Skills, Cool Resolve, Rousing Warmth

Tyranny of Dragons boons: Dragonheart, Dragon's Gaze, Draconic Armorbreaker, Dragon's Thirst (rank 1), Dragon's Revival (rank 1), Dragon's Fury (rank 1)
Elemental Evil: Unassailable Tide, Earth's Renewal, Searing Aggression, Gale of Retribution
Underdark: Primordial Vitality, Primordial Focus, Drow Ambush Tactics, Dwarven Footing, Demon Slayer
Maze Engine boons: Abyssal Regeneration, Demonic Influence, Demonic Endurance, Baphomet's Might
PvP: Supply Line (basically useless bar running into PvP zone in preparation for any demonic heroic encounter in Icewind Dale. If you don't see the pattern here, I got nothing to say about your intellect. Or rather the lack thereof)
Storm King's Thunder: Frosty Demeanor, Survival Instincts, Icy Wrath, Vengeful Heat, Chill of Winter (rank 1)
The Cloaked Ascendancy: Aura of Despair, Fey Briars, Fiery Frenzy, Vision of Beyond
Jungles of Chult: Tyrant's Terror (rank 2)

Moveset:
At-will powers: Clear the Ground (main hand artifact weapon power), Aimed Strike
Encounter powers: Plant Growth, Hawkeye, Throw Caution
Daily powers: Forest Ghost, Seismic Shot
Class features: Blade Storm (off hand artifact weapon power), Twin-Blade Storm

How the whole thing works:
I know what you're thinking here. The moveset looks anything but normal. It's an absurd piece of experiment doomed to failure, something that reads like "Germany drafted too many midfielders for Brazil 2014." The best part of the deal? The seemingly absurd turned out to be the reason why Joachim "Der Löwe" Löw won Le Saint Graal de Jules Rimet (not to mention putting a holy total of seven goals past Brazil). While I won't compare myself to this Teutonian genius, I still consider myself as the tactician guy like him. Hey, guess what? My seemingly absurd actually works like Löw's seemingly absurd.

To make this work, however, I need to give myself a decent semblance of insurance due to the absence of Oak Skin. Two things come to mind. The first would be the boons. I went full defense apart from Draconic Armorbreaker. The second would be slotting the Gondhammer. I can't stress enough how bloody useful this thing is. If Thor can summon mass dps with Mjolnir, then Loki would want to swindle a hammer from Gond himself. Like Loki, Arylos is no bruiser. Like Loki, Arylos is a schemer. And schemers are far likelier to die. That is until you realize they can operate behind your back in ways more than just a few.

At the same time, there's a need for speed. This is why I got lucky earlier last night. After some time spent outside Chult, Arylos nailed a Ring of the Hunter +3. What this means is more speed. This build can never have too much speed. Which is why I opted for a Ring of Hunter +2 instead of a Ring of Brutality +4. It's definitely not about the item level. There's definitely a risk of a tradeoff since I'll be risking a drop in dps. 4000 power per 30 secs or so is no laughing matter. However, it must be stated that the combat (hunter) ranger relies on close combat. Which means the feats are all about maxing out this aspect of the gameplay via Battle Crazed and Scything Blades. Too slow into the fray and you'll lose out. While half of myself wanted to try out two epic rings instead of just one, I'm practical enough to understand "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." If I want to fix it, there's a risk of breaking it.

You might want to ask this then: What about all the great weapon fighters and other dps builds with higher total item level? You're gonna be shocked at this, but I'm not lying when I say Arylos can out-dps great weapon fighters of a lower total item level and dps clerics of a higher total item level. The rule of thumb in doing a dps-race with a great weapon fighter is this: The son of Beornegar will always win the dps-race against that son of Zaknafein Do'Urden despite having a total item level around 1000 points lower. I've been in the kind of situation where Arylos out-dps'd a great weapon fighter of a lower total item level (i.e. around the 1K range). I've been in the kind of situation where Arylos out-dps'd a dps cleric of higher total item level and even a great weapon fighter of 13K total item level (Arylos' case was basically 12K nearing 13K). And the last case was an alliance dungeon run. There's this instance where Arylos joined the fight late, that was against Lostmauth. Starting from the second last boss (more accurately, it's "second last bosses") to Lostmauth. The damage count shot from zero to six million plus.

Sadly, I got straitjacketed in the process of allocating the heroic feat points. Hence, I couldn't max out Scoundrel Training. It's either 1 point into Predatory Action, Battlewise, Agile Combatant, or Lucky Skirmisher. Predatory Action got my nod of approval. After all, every bit of damage counts for the combat ranger. More specifically a case of even more so. Lucky Skirmisher was never a lucky bet in terms of raiding. In fact, deflect for combat rangers is dodgy at best, outright useless at worst. I just don't like it. Might as well invest in damage dealing. For Battlewise, there's no point in me doing a point. It's either maxed out or nothing. Agile Combatant seems like the best choice, but why would I need that if I'm no trapper? It's not as if I'm a stance-switch Master Trapper using Oak Skin+Deft Strike+Disruptive Shot. I'm sure not every woman is a fan of Kamasutra and the similar stuff, S'porean, foreign talent, or even SPG.

So how in the Nine Hells does this absurdity work? Or even make sense in the first place? Remember the two videos of Archer versus Lancer? The first video portrayed Archer as a faker in a practical sense, a bowman pretending to be a swordsman. The second video mentioned something like "eyes of a hawk." The secret to making an idea seemingly insane into something truly insane is the synergy between Hawkeye and Split the Sky. The rule of thumb is to fire a storm cloud into the sky. Then stance-switch>Hawkeye>have it your way. Coupled with Lightning cooldown reduction and Serpent Weave as vital support, all I need is enough stamina to burn without risking a... well, stamina burn. I got a maxed out Swift Footwork, Demonic Endurance, and Vision of Beyond. With Baphomet's Might to up the crit, there's plenty for Arylos to go about doing what he does best. Namely, being an epically trained scoundrel blessed with a cool resolve.

A scoundrel+heroic spirit=that most epic heroic feat ever.

A tale of two characters Pt I (from two games no less)

Firstly, it is with a heavy heart that I announced my retirement from Tera Online. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game. However, I realised I'm never a normal person when it comes to time management. Which means right now, I can only afford to play two games. Namely, Neverwinter and Marvel Heroes Omega. I know, I know. The two guilds which invited me despite the obvious.

To the guilds Nagas With Attitude and North Korea Best Korea, I really thank you guys (and girls) for noticing me for some funny reason. Even if it is only for the sake of growing your guild, I still appreciate your good gesture. To Nagas With Attitude, may you get more guildies so that you can be a great guild. To North Korea Best Korea, I know you guys enjoy joking and Deadpool from your guild name. I don't know what to say, so I might as well give you something visual in return.

Yes, she's Korean. Just that she's not from North Korea Best Korea.

Puny god(s)?

Finally, I have calmed down unlike a genius called Bruce Banner. Well, hopefully at least. The Harvey Weinstein grabstein has really brought out the worst in people so far. From uncovered scandals to whether we should be intelligent enough to ask why first, one can only be forgiven for either being too optimistic or outright naive (note: This is not a jab towards those suffering, wounded, and grieving, but rather to the lords and ladies living in their castles). As for having a sex offenders list, it doesn't seem to do anything for law and order (plus justice) bar the square root of sod all.

While I don't belong to the optimistic type, I'm afraid I might have fallen into the self-righteous type. Or maybe it's just that I was too zealous to be a 正義の味方. After all, look where being an ally of justice has gotten a boy/man.

Note: Interestingly enough, Mayim Bialik's Big Explosion made me do a Google search for teh lolz. Guess what I discovered?

IMDb ranking:

1. Big Bang Theory (8.3/10)

2. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (8.1/10)

3. Deadpool (8/10)

Popular ranking:

1. Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (95% approval rate)

2. Deadpool (92% approval rate)

3. Big Bang Theory (91% approval rate)

Conclusion: Perhaps it's not that bad after all, that not everyone is incapable of understanding the contradiction of humanity. The Man of Steel was right. Mayhap proper balance can be restored after all.

New tags (and it has got nothing to do with #grabstein or #prayforsomalia)

Because I won't be gaming beyond Neverwinter and Marvel Heroes Omega, I might as well start a new label or few. However, I won't be taking down the so-called dead labels. Maybe I'm too lazy to do that, who knows? This post will be the first of many. Or few depending on my time management.

A tale of two characters: Emiya Shirou and Kurt Wagner

I'm pretty sure it's now official. Hopefully, that is. The Marvel Shirou is my main. Simply put, I ended up preferring Nightcrawler to the rest. While I'm perfectly capable of adapting my style to other characters ranging from Black Panther (dps-summon build with S.H.I.E.L.D Agent team-up) to Gambit (melee-range hybrid with Magik team-up), my vote still goes to Kurt Wagner (melee dps with Dr Strange team-up).

Why I likened Nightcrawler to the idealistic Emiya is very simple. Both of them are not dumb, yet they are idealistic. Like how Shirou's ideal is borrowed from Emiya Kiritsugu post-Fuyuki fire, Nightcrawler is now the default heir to Charles Xavier's dream post-Phoenix Five. Perhaps that's why I identify myself with Kurt and Shirou. Despite a brutal reality defined by the fickle nature of humanity, there's still a large part of myself wanting to do good at the risk of self-injury. In this sense, the three of us are allies of justice.

For quite some time after I've resumed playing the game which got me into MMO gaming, I opted for a two-build approach. After all, the second power build is given free of charge. If I don't use, no one will use for me. Then it will be wasted, right? Then I realized the folly of the Singaporean mindset. Why so kiasu if you can be more efficient by focusing on just one build? It's not as if I play PvP (note: The reason why I don't PvP is due to my negative experiences with people not so dissimilar to Kurt's past). Below is my power list, choice of gear, and whatever whatnots.

Left click: Swashbuckler Slash

Right click: Bamf!

A: Bamf Bomb

S; Righteous Frenzy

D: X-Slash

F; Run Through

G; Brimstone Blitz

H: Scarlet Witch flourish paint

U: Rain of Bamf! (current rank: 11)

Talents: Surprise Attack, Ausweichen, Infernal Brimstone, Obscuring Brimstone, Carried Momentum

Artifacts: Spider-Clone Serum, Cosmically Enhanced Targeting System, Kirigi's Tetsubishi, Mayhem Demonblood (physical damage)
Blessings: Hela, Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral

Medallion: Grim Reaper (lvl 63 cosmic)

Uru-forged item: Uru-forged War Plate
Runeword: Allfather's Fury

Relic: Lemuria

Legendary BiS: Gungnir (lvl 80)

Slot 1-5: Excalibur's Saber, The White Cloak of Paradise, Black Gloves of the Priesthood, Fairy Tale Swashbuckler's Boots, Great White Shark
Runes: Alternate Reality Runes for all five slots (+60 damage for slot 1 and 5, +200 defense for slot 2-4)

Ring: Bloodstone Demonband (melee, +1 Fighting, brutal strike, brutal damage)

Catalyst: A.RM.O.R version Speed Genetic Mutation (+3 Speed; dodge bonus as crafted affix)

Insignia: Insignia of Piotr Rasputin (lvl 66 cosmic; defense and anti-boss damage)

Pet: Mr Hammond's Cat (damage reduction from ranged attacks, spirit regain when hitting with basic power, physical damage bonus, bonus base defense and base damage when getting hit, +3 Fighting)

Infinity system: Soul, Time, Reality

Hero synergy: Black Panther, Black Widow, Cable, Daredevil, Deadpool, Gambit, Hawkeye, Invisible Woman, Nightcrawler, Storm

How he fights

To put it in the simplest way, my Nightcrawler is all about constant aggression with a big hitting move as the starter.  In this case, it's Bamf Bomb plus stealth. Right now, I'm more used to using Bamf Bomb as the lone starter. However, that's because I'm too used to doing it more than anything else. To maximize the Bamf Bomb impact, it's recommended to throw in a Righteous Frenzy first (assuming this is also about its BFF called Infernal Brimstone). And ofc it doesn't help that I'm not under any pressure to make things easier for myself (read: I'm still running the terminals at either normal or heroic difficulty).

On the flip side, however, pulling off a Bamf Bomb first means I'm always/almost guaranteed to strike faster for the second hit due to this move's fast recovery. This is where my Infernal Righteous Frenzy comes into the picture. On normal to heroic mode, this is doable. On cosmic difficulty... well, I'm sure that's another story.

On the gear, Nightcrawler can do incredible things like the incredible Nightcrawler he truly is. But that's provided he got every unique gear that is... well, unique to him. I tried out the Red Muramasa Blade on him. Suffice to say, I didn't like how you need a probability less than 10% to make things count. Unlike the (S'porean) Toto Tan, I don't throw the dice on the lottery. It's not that I'm too honest for that, just that I'm too pragmatic for this kind of thing. Coupled with the fact that plenty of Nightcrawler's defensive game revolves around bamfing here and there, there's even less of a decent reason for me to say Red Muramasa Blade can be his slot 1 BiS. More likely a slot 1 BS, which is quite a massive shame. My plan for Les Scélérats actually involved Nightcrawler and the only thing which can take Wolverine down (basically a statement in Logan's own words).

It's not just the Red Muramasa Blade. Unlike most (if not other) heroes, Kurt's bamfing can only be truly effective with the relevant gear. So far so good, I've yet to see any universal unique slot 1-5 which can be a decent alternative to what is exclusive to the fuzzy blue elf. So if you're one who enjoys doing a mix-and-match like a Korean, Nightcrawler's not the one for you (I still do think he's the one for Wanda ever since they brought in Nocturne while ending the Vision deal). And yes, it can be very frustrating since the drop rate for hero-specific unique gear is significantly lower than that of universal unique gear (and I'm still waiting for that Storm achievement in getting all her unique stuff). However, using Excalibur as your legendary BiS may present the possibility to circumvent the gear restriction (note that I only say "may" and not "definitely" for a good reason).

On the choice of relic, Lemuria is surprisingly useful. Initially used because I've yet to discover (Relic of) Subterranea, The heal-on-hit property provides a decent cushion. I won't compare it with Subterranea since defense always/mostly counts more than heal-on-hit for scrapper heroes. In fact, the only reason for me not to go Subterranea was Gambit. I had to make a decision due to Gambit's mediocre defensive game (which is why using a melee focused Cajun would most likely involve some major risk-taking unless you can dump 150 infinity points into defense increment under the Space gem category). It's not that hard. Interestingly enough, it seems that Lemurians are more Asian in the same way Atlanteans are more... well, white. I suddenly feel like uploading a few pics. I blame the Lemurians for that.

Because my Nightcrawler is more of teleportation build (i.e. Ausweichen and Carried Momentum), the intuitive approach should be to use his training sticks instead of his sword. But because using the sword makes him look cooler (in my mind), I opted for Excalibur's Saber. What this means is that I'll need to create a balance between Kurt the shinobi and Kurt the pirat (no, it's not a typo. You are really seeing the German word for pirate). To be honest, it's not that hard thanks to a combination of Run Through and his Surprise Attack. That combination basically solved half of my challenge like how using Thomas "Der Ninja" Müller actually solved half of Joachim "Der Löwe" Löw's challenge during World Cup 2014. There's no point for me to do Reflexive Parry because I don't do a triple flourish. I'll have to say, though, that with correct planning, a pure sword build can wreck diabolical damage on the opponent, be it boss, non-boss, or your BFF playing against you in PvP. I've never tried that, but the numbers actually indicated the potential. Shadowmeld gives you better insurance, but I've gone beyond the safety-first approach which defined my gaming style for so long. Only Ausweichen is left. And given my instinctive tendency to right click spam (something which I'm starting to learn not to via using Gambit, Cable, and Hawkeye), that's the only choice that matters.

For Infernal Brimstone, the vulnerability debuff and additional damage are too good for me to pass up. I don't do triple flourish (or even double flourish for that matter), so Element of Surprise is pointless for me. Even more so for Crimson Sabres since that one is for sword build.

The fourth row is where the tricky part comes since unlike the rest of my characters (apart from Black Panther), Nightcrawler has a higher tendency to do his signature move. Tireless Teleporter is an effective bailout (that is unless your invulnerability hit the expiry date and Juggernaut happened to run you down). Everywhere at Once enables you to use Brimstone Blitz as much as possible (an effective, if not the most effective synergy with Ausweichen). Then there is Obscuring Brimstone. That became my choice for three reasons.

1. I use Surprise Attack
2. I use Run Through
3. I can still create an effective synergy with Ausweichen via right click, just that the damage potential from this talent alone would be lower. Or perhaps even much lower, who knows?

Carried Momentum is a no-brainer at this point of time. I'm more of a multi-porter, so Crescendo of Steel and Sabre Blitz don't cut the German mustard for me.

A bit of additional info on Kurt's sword. Firstly, I'm more of a stats guy when it comes to the damage dealing. This is also why I prefer a stat based BiS setup for slot 1-5. Unless left without an alternative, I always make sure the vital stats are increased as much as possible (no, I don't mean the three sizes of a woman when I said vital stats). At the same time, the sword only works if your Nightcrawler relies on fast hitting slashes since you'll need to proc the defensive debuff on the enemy as much as possible. Which is why X-Slash is more of an offensive staple for me while Swashbuckling Slash is there to replenish spirit in case the blue gauge is nearing zero. At the same time, Excalibur's Saber can give Nightcrawler a better defensive game via the bamf, so this is definitely whatever tradeoff is something I can live with.

On the runes, there's a reason why you should be farming the A.R.M.O.R drives whenever possible. The alternate reality rune is definitely a better alternative (pardon the pun) to the standard rune enchantments. Ofc this isn't a hard and fast rule. There are certain rune enchantments giving you the kind of stat buff which alternate reality runes cannot give you. Most notably dodge (Serpent rune) and critical hit (Tyr). This is also why the rune drop rng for either a Tyr or Jörmungandr (i.e. Serpent) is very low albeit these two are not the only runes with a very low drop rate. Case in point: I got myself a Jörmungandr recently, but I can't remember when was the last time I got one despite having a photographic memory. I'm still trying to see what I can use for that snake glyph, though. It's too rare a drop, I don't want to waste it just like that.

As for the Bloodstone Demonband, I really got lucky since the stats generated for that thing can be as random as Trump's temperament. The stats rolled were too good to pass up. And they're still too good to be replaced.

Incidentally, my Nightcrawler has a higher Speed than Fighting (although both have broken the 30 ceiling mark). Which is quite funny since it's only natural for gamers to focus more on Fighting (read: that one gives you critical hit multiplier). I don't really mind that. In fact, having a higher Speed than Fighting actually suits Nightcrawler's style (apparently, the official stats grid from Marvel revealed a higher Speed rating as well). Speed gives you damage reduction against area attacks. Because I tend to bamf here, there, and sometimes everywhere, the only way for this aspect of Speed to work is when the game is lagging and I happened to be somewhere in the middle of an AoE attack zone (that is so long it's not Juggernaut himself). Either that or the bamf stacks reaches zero first (something which doesn't happen much due to 150 points spent on the Time gem). The other aspect of Speed lies in dodge multiplier. That's where the fun part comes. Ausweichen gives you 2% dodge chance increase (not to be confused with dodge chance multiplier) per proc. Coupled with the 2% base damage increase as well and I don't have to worry too much about whether I should stand and fight or keep running around. At the same time, Ausweichen can give a maximum of 20% increase for dodge and damage (2% x 10 stacks). Not that I'd need that much, but at least a few stacks help.

On the brutal hit and damage end, that's the reason why I use one Blessing of Hela and one Blessing of Hogun. In fact, this was the chief reason why I chose the Grim Reaper cosmic medallion. For the sake of having a better defense without spending on the Space gem, I opted for Volstagg and Fandral. In fact, I was purposely doing the so-called sidekick theme for my choice of blessings (after all, Kurt will always be the second fiddle to Logan even though Wolverine is now in either heaven or hell). Apart from Hela, the rest are part of the Warriors Three. Or rather, the whole of Warriors Three.

As for my choices in artifacts, Spider-Clone Serum is effectively anti-boss. Basically, anything anti-boss will synergize nicely with Allfather's Fury (which is my choice of runeword enchantment for an otherwise defensive Uru-forged War plate). As for Cosmically Enhanced Targeting System, I don't have to tell you what that thing does for Nightcrawler beyond an effective synergy with the Excalibur's Saber debuff. Kirigi's Tetsubishi suits my Nightcrawler's moveset since 90% of the dps is effectively area based. As for Mayhem Demonblood, it's a good thing Nightcrawler is a physical dps instead of someone like Cable where melee counts for nothing in terms of physical damage. And let's not forget the +2 Speed and +2 Fighting proc.

For the insignia, the Siberian strongman is a no-brainer. Even though he was more of a pointless comic relief CGI in the Deadpool movie, there's no doubting the Siberian strongman being a loyal stalwart to the X cause. This is the easiest insignia to use for melee dps, you're always guaranteed an increase in defense and melee damage upon hit. Also, please don't underestimate the difference of 3 levels for the cosmic catalyst (and most likely the cosmic medallion as well). It means a lot especially if you're to run just about anything cosmic level.

On the Infinity gems, Soul and Time are a pair of no-brainers. One deals with Fighting, the other deals with Speed. I just dumped 150 into the stats increment for each gem tree. It's really that simple. Having the Relic of Lemuria means I don't have to worry about putting points into the health-on-hit for the Soul gem. In fact, an effective bamfing game means you only need to dump the points into that one area that matters most. Namely, Fighting. For the Time gem, There's no point wasting the points (again, pardon the pun) on anything beyond increasing Speed. It's actually the same logic with the Soul gem tree. Reality is my third choice for practical purposes. On one hand, I need to add more muscle to Brimstone Blitz and Rain of Bamf! due to any boss fight and crowd clearing involving mini-bosses. On the other hand, having a single digit for Energy means freeing up more infinity points.

On the hero synergy, I know my choices may raise a few eyebrows. To set the record straight, I now have 11 heroes on my roster. The only one missing in the hero synergy list is Psylocke. I know it looks more pragmatic to use her hero synergy rather than choosing Gambit. Firstly, her hero synergy deals with physical damage and mental damage. On the first glance, that makes her a more practical choice. However, I need Gambit to alleviate the spirit usage since I'm always using X-Slash a lot. For Invisible Woman, the +2% deflect multiplier can be quite handy since every bit of defensive work counts (that is so long the dps doesn't get compromised). If I am to choose Psylocke, it means either I have to take down Gambit or Invisible Woman. The good thing about Invisible Woman lies in the 2% energy damage increase. On the first glance, it is useless. In reality, opting for energy damage in the Reality gem tree means having an easier time allocating the infinity points. I don't have to worry how many points I have to dump for the mental damage in the Soul gem tree. It's actually that simple. That plus machinery is vulnerable to energy damage.

Lastly, let me touch on the Gungnir BiS. I tend to favor a crit build and it's not just Nightcrawler and Marvel Heroes Omega. Long story short, Gungnir gives me what I want for Nightcrawler's dps game. Having a critical hit chance of 40+% means I'm guaranteed a brutal strike every now and then. And that's not taking into account the Odinrage status at rank 5.

P.S: A good alternative for crit builds is Savage Axe of Ares. The raw damage is somewhere up there, but you won't crit it as much as you'd like to. This one is for Nightcrawlers with a lower crit hit affix and a higher damage affix while Gungnir is quite the other way round. Just don't ask me which one is better. I deal with circumstances, not numbers.

One woman, two guys (and why this has got nothing to do with Yishun)

I'll have to be brutally frank here. I've spent too much time playing Marvel Heroes. At the same time, I'll need to kick myself back into writing mode. Not for any stuff, but... well, the kind of stuff my fellow Singaporeans would avoid like a plague.

Yishun really needs H.P Lovecraft, but def not the other way round.

But before that...

Let me explain the misleading nature of the post title. After all, it must be noted that the first female president of Singapore isn't crazy despite living in Yishun (however, I'm pretty sure she'd appreciate Lovecraft's insane genius despite his history of being a racist).

When I mention one woman and two guys, it has got nothing to do with free porn ever since Nanyang Polytechnic earned its momentary flash of infamy (just don't ask me whether Tammy was going for a diploma in radiography since I'm pretty mindful of my future girlfriend reading this post eventually). When I say one woman, I'm referring to Natasha Romanova. When I mention two guys, I'm referring to her having the quality to charm two daring sons of a gun instead of just one.

Doing Black Widow

Quite obviously, this part is about how I did my KGB planning. Don't know what is KGB? Okay, never mind.

One of the greatest challenges in using a ranged character lies in trying to make the most out of melee damage bonus when it comes to hero synergy. Trust me, keeping my current hero synergy list in mind is a pain in the neck (gamers will understand why and I mean the neck). It took me quite a while to do the balancing act when it comes to Stormy Mary Sue. However, I relished the challenge. This is not a challenge directed towards a gamer per se. Rather, this is a challenge issued to a tactician. Or rather someone who thinks like one (note: hopefully, I can do a separate post on how I managed to pull off what the Hand would call IMPOSSIBRU!).

For this (amazing) female parallel of Spiderman, it's not that hard. The reason why being the Lethal Weaponry talent. This talent is my staple. Period. And it has got nothing to do with Mel "Passion of the Braveheart" Gibson, Danny "not the Archuleta from Predator 2" Glover, and Jet "not black" Li. Lethal Weaponry presents two key aspects of Black Widow's range and melee dps. The ranged Snap Shot basic deals damage over time via Shrapnel Cut while Stinging Strike becomes Deadly Blade (full auto Bullet Barrage also deals Shrapnel Cut damage, but that's not part of my KGB Black Widow). Using both moves in tandem with a hefty focus on melee damage bonus via hero synergy means plenty of damage over time. Taking into account that I actually prefer doing Snap Shot spam in general, it means a great deal once Natasha enters stealth modal (read: that's what her knife is used for). In particular, stealth knife usage is very damn useful in patrol boss fights.

As for the first row of talents, it's a straightforward case of Swift and Silent. If your preferred choice is Acrobatic Assassin, chances are that your Black Widow will be going commando (read: nothing to do with the lack of underwear, but rather the fact that it took more than just the KGB for Stalin Joe to win the Battle of Stalingrad). Kinetically Charged Battery is fun to use if your Black Widow is high on voltage. Problem is, the damage bonus coming from Red Room Reflexes would be compromised (read: you won't be able to focus on voltage increment and stat increment at the same time for the infinity tree). So yeah, it's Swift and Silent for me, KGB for Natasha.

As for the third row of talents (since Lethal Weaponry belongs to the second row), my original pick was Hidden Explosives. It was a fun thing to do, but only while it lasted. The reason why being that I felt like maxing out the dps potential for Rolling Grenades. Hence, a Fistful of Grenades. There's a stupid reason behind this change. Namely, the need to achieve an achievement involving fragging people with this move.

Seriously, Gazillion set a good example in making achievements cool.

As for the fourth row, I was swinging between Drone Swarm and Master Operative. The reason for the former lies in dealing more damage for Micro-Drones. As for the latter, it basically means you won't be breaking stealth once you pulled that off. It's like asking Black Widow whether she prefers a flamboyant showman like Hawkeye or a man without fear like Daredevil. However, I have to admit using Coup de Grâce played a large part in me using Master Op. It was fun while it lasted, I have to say. Again, I blame Rolling Grenades for that. In short, prolonged stealth means making the most out of your first move more than anything else. In this sense, Drone Swarm is a better option than Master Op. Or Mistress Op. Or whatever Op.

As for the final row, it has to be the most straightforward choice. Because I prefer being Robin Hood winning the hand of his Maid Marian rather than Wilfred of Ivanhoe pursuing his Lady Rowena, I chose full stealth modal in the form of They'll Never Know What Hit Them. I'm more of a signature move spammer (a habit I've cultivated via Nightcrawler and further honed via Gambit), so this option suits me more than the other two. So no, I don't do kicks and point blank focus. After all, I consider myself a tactical gamer, not the technical type.

Note: Once I've done the Rolling Grenades achievement, I might go back to my original choice. Namely, Hidden Explosives. Seriously, dodge bombing is fun. It prevents you from dodge spamming while increasing the dps. A good tradeoff for tactical gamers like me.

List of chosen talents:

Swift and Silent

(because she's part of the KGB)

Lethal Weaponry

(because lethal weapons isn't just about black and white)

Fistful of Grenades 

(because you don't need to be Bruce Lee to unleashed your inner fists of fury)

Drone Swarm

(because bombing those Hydra terrorists is fun so long no one kills Bob)

Never Know What Them

(seriously, it's self-explanatory)

Move list

Firstly and foremost, I'm officially hooked on the four key bind. So what is a four key bind? Basically, it's binding four powers (minus signature moves) to A, S, D, and F. Together with both ends of the mouse clicking plus the signature move, it makes in total six moves. For the last key, namely H, I reserved it for ultimate power. It's actually easier to press H than to press U. At least for me, that is. Below is how I did my KBG Widow build.

Left click: Snap Shot

Right Click: Silent Killer

A: Rolling Grenades

S: Deadly Blade

D: Micro-Drones

F: Stinging Shot

G: Twilight Cloaking Device (i.e. signature move)

H: S.H.I.E.L.D Assault (ultimate power)

As you can see, Deadly Blade is my only melee attack. In solo running, I'd most likely be using to max out the damage over time. Hence, a lower dependence on it. If I have enough free time (since I really need to get myself back on track for Neverwinter and Tera Online as well), I'll be messing around with her knife attack. The easiest way to pull it off would be using it as a follow-up to Twilight Cloaking Device since I can rack up the damage like a crazy Johnny on the loose. However. I do have the natural tendency to go wild card at times. Which means I'm still incapable of playing by the book, hence a decent chance of me trying to knife the Red Skull like that psycho from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Sans the cloaking process, of course. Needless to say, it's far easier for me to do exactly that in any patrol boss fights (unless we're talking about the off-chance where you're the only person running the gauntlet).

Stinging Shot is a no-brainer. I need voltage, Black Widow needs it more than I do. It has to be my most convenient starter move. I don't recall being this comfortable in pressing the F key when it comes to other characters in my current roster.

As for Micro-Drones, that's because I realized using only Stinging Shot is a pointless waste of resources. It's good to be thrifty, but only if you're intelligent enough to spend decently instead of hoarding everything like Smaug himself. Oh, and one more thing. Going Twilight means voltage spam. Micro-Drones>Stinging Shot spam>stealth modal>knife attack.

Note: For those willing to be bold (since fortune does favor the bold), you can try doing a simple one-two with Coup de Grâce and Deadly Blade. If done correctly, you can easily facilitate a swift boss death. Just remember to do dodge bombing.

Gear

I have to admit I may have accidentally created a monster here. While using a pure character Unique gear set is fun, I ended up becoming the Thomas Edison of Marvel Heroes Omega. The reason why being that for slot 5, I opted for Cerebro. Although that's because I'm still waiting for her Gloves of Siberian Winter to drop, the mental damage proc was just too damn good to go under the radar. Firstly, I don't have to waste any infinity points on mental damage. Which means more points to up the Red Room Reflexes dps. For now, the balance is good enough. Basically, the gear set looks like this.

Slot 1: Natasha's Dual Subcompact Pistols

Slot 2: Raiden-Tech S.H.I.E.L.D Prototype Armor

Slot 3: Drop Leg Holster Rig

Slot 4: Balanced Reinforced Stilettos

Slot 5: Cerebro Remote Interface

Ring: S.H.I.E.L.D Graduation Ring

Legendary: Special Issue Emergency Communicator

Relic: Relic of the Snakeroot Clan

Artifacts: Hand of Doom, Essence of Dread, Mental Focus Headband, Advanced Latverian Regalia

Team-up: S.H.I.E.L.D Agent (3rd team-up option)

As you can see, this build is heavy on the summons and CC. The good thing about S.H.I.E.L.D Agent team-up is versatility of usage. If you want to play the safe bet, option 1 is the way to go. But option 3 is where the fun part starts. Unlike other team-ups, the S.H.I.E.L.D Agent allows up to two summon powers while not in play. This makes for a cool fragging game where you don't have to worry about numbers. At the same time, it can make full use of the Latverian Regalia (minus the dumb ally summon proc) since you don't need to get yourself hit in order to add one minion to your battlefield arsenal. You won't be running short of ally cover and combined with the 3rd option bonus (+240 damage rating and +12% summoned ally damage), it means less aggro heat and a better chance of exploiting the 4% damage bonus against unaware targets from her hero synergy (note that this doesn't render Deadpool's first hero synergy redundant since less aggro doesn't mean no aggro).

Interestingly enough, the only reason why I chose a legendary item deemed next to useless/actually useless was due to the auto-revive and ally summon. Problem is, its rank 5 power is worth nothing less than the square root of sod all. In fact, I won't be surprised if there's little to no synergy value between this and the auto-revive (if so, that'd explain the griping over this thing). At the end of the day, if the cover fire tactic is your game, then good. Otherwise, you may need to look somewhere else. Personally, I'd prefer Norn Stones (although Savage Axe of Ares can give her an absurd amount of raw damage if you happen to go crit build).

Note: All four artifacts in the list confers bonus Intelligence. Which means the crit damage can easily scale like crazy. However, base crit chance is now only at 28% or so. -.-'

Add note: Snakeroot relic is surprisingly good for Black Widow. Initially intended for experimental purposes, the outcome was much better than otherwise expected. Trust me, mobility can do a great deal for both the offensive and defensive since positioning is very important for any range/range-melee build. In fact, I actually lost count on how many times Black Widow was able to evade the attacks based on movement speed alone.

P.S: Mental Focus Headband also deals mental damage upon proc while Essence of Dread gives mental damage increment. In a nutshell, this is virtually a stunlock build I ended up creating out of nowhere. Suffice to say, it means crit hitting becomes somewhat of a secondary issue. Refer back to what I said on the Norn Stones.

Cable guy, Deadpool, and teleportation

Okay, so just yesterday, I experimented with another character in Marvel Heroes. He's none other than the Cable guy.

Erm... not this cable guy pls...

This is the correct Cable guy minus his bro

Cable: From 1 to 10

First impression

Firstly, I find hero testing free of charge can be an effective way of eternal splinters farming. With the Cable guy alone, I managed to farm around half a hundred. In fact, it seems that an effective area dps game can result in a higher yield. While testing Gambit before spending 400 splinters, there were moments where 2-3 splinters dropped after one-shotting the mob. For Deadpool, it's pretty much the same case. Ditto for Cable as well this time round. Of course, it may be that drop chances for eternal splinters are now upped. Then again, neither Nightcrawler, Black Panther, or Invisible Woman was able to farm this much individually.

My first impression on Cable was that he's someone synonymous with a heavy tank. When I say heavy tank, I'm not referring to the likes of Colossus, Hulk, and Cain Marko. I'm actually referring to heavily armoured vehicles complete with a turret. Why I made this daring assumption is very simple. In the real deal done by Marvel, Cable is an extremely resilient mutant. At the same time, being a time traveller means seeing plenty of stuff that is pretty grim indeed. I still remember the X-Men cartoon when I was 12. The impression I got was definitely not the real deal (then again, the cartoon was more for kids than the fans).

As it turned out, Cable in the game actually plays like how one might expect Nathan Summers to fight in the original comics. Imagine Frank Castle plus the Man of Steel. When you have 33% damage resist at level 10, it has to mean something since Cable is a range-melee hybrid like Gambit.

I only got Phase Magnum, Quick Bodyslide, Plasma Submachine Guns, Psimitar Sweep, Vortex Grenade, Mind Bullets and Viper Beam since we're talking about a max level cap of 10. Because I tend to bind the powers to 4 keys instead of the maximum 6, my style tends to work around an effective one-two more than anything else (apparently, this was mainly due to me getting too used to the Neverwinter power tray UI). After messing around here and there like Deadpool, I basically did a 3 key binding (mainly because I'm too used in binding signature moves to S key while ultimate moves are reserved for the H key).

Left click: Phase Magnum

Right click: Quick Bodyslide

A: Plasma Submachine Guns

D: Vortex Grenade

F: Psimitar Sweep

For the infinity points, I invested them into Reality and Time, two things commonly associated with the Cable guy himself (being a telepath, however, makes the Mind tree also 100% relevant). For Reality, I focused on increasing the Energy rating. For Time, it's all about movement speed and right click cooldown. Then I did a Total Recall where the focus is now on Mind and Reality. The reason why being one of the skills capable of proc'ing mental damage. Perfectly Cable if I say so myself.

The thing with Cable is that he has some big hitting moves which would eat away his Spirit in no time. Which is why some of his passive skills involve converting non-basic moves into basic moves. Currently, my eternal splinters stand at 350+. Which means if I want to get the Cable guy, I only need 40+ more. If there's anything I've done decently well while using Cable, it'd be my status as a frag king. The reason why I use this term is very simple: Vortex Grenade>Phase Magnum>rinse and repeat. Well, not exactly that, but this is a very effective anti-boss tactic. I tried that against the likes of Gorgon and Taskmaster, bosses who always pull off that annoying dash spam. In fact, this tactic can be absurdly effective against mobs despite Phase Magnum being a single line range attack. Either I pull off Phase Submachine Guns to crowd clear or I just do things Cable anti-boss way. Trust me, the fragging approach works like hell.

Which now comes to knowing better why the people at Gazillion have to place certain restrictions in the form of the passive power/traits tree. Imagine using Invisible Woman without such a restriction. Every Stormy Sue would become a Mary Sue in the form of Storm of Spheres spamming. I kid you not, SoS is one of, if not the most effective AoE damaging move in Stormy Sue's arsenal. Ultimately (no pun intended to Marvel fans), it's only a question of extent rather than aye or nay when it comes imposing this restraining device on every character so as to speak.

Verdict-The Cable guy is surprisingly easy to use for range character. Traditionally, I'd always have trouble using such characters in this game due to left clicking having a chance of the toon moving instead of shooting. His incredibly high defensive game ensures an insane dps game for solo running. When it comes to group running or instances like Midtown, Hightown, and Industrial City, a tactical approach may work better. Unlike Gambit, it's actually possible to create a melee/psimitar Cable with your only option of ranged warfare coming from basic attack left clicking. Personally, I'd still recommend using the frag and destroy strategy. The best part of this deal? You can actually implement the fragging part into your psimitar Cable.

Deadpool: From 1 to 10

First impression

It feels absolutely surreal doing this part right now. The reason why? Someone died. No, I'm not kidding you and I'll never find another person's death funny despite my tendency to crack dark jokes concerning my own imminent end. For the lack of a better response to a tragedy, let me continue on-topic here.

Left click: Big Bang Bang Bang

Right click: Quick Bodyslide by One

A: Flesh Wound

D: Awesome Lunge of Death

F: Real Armor Buster

For some weird reason, Koreans have a weakness for Deadpool. Despite being a traditional Asian nation well known for grappling with Western values (something which we Singaporeans should understand so well), it seems that not even the salty Koreans from the south are free from Wade Willy Wonka Wilson's trolling.

Invisible Woman: You're a bad influence, Wade. Let's get you an etiquette class.

Like his bro, Deadpool has the ability to go defensive mode after executing a melee move. In this sense, using a lunging attack is the most straightforward way to proc this effect (for Cable, it's the psimitar dash). Unlike Cable, however, Deadpool has a better melee game. This is due to Flesh Wound being a more-than-capable melee combo move in terms of racking up hits. At the same time, this move also grants bonus deflect per hit. Although Deadpool is far less a tank than Cable, it must be stated that Wade Willy Wonka Wilson is all about pure dps unlike Cable, who is definitely much more versatile.

Big Bang Bang Bang is an anomaly in the sense that I'm not exactly a fan of single target range basic attacks. However, Deadpool's version of (the Korean) Bang got me absolutely sold. For some funny reason, holding down left click, be it from afar or point blank, gave me some sort of grim mirth. Firstly, it's exactly what Wade Willy Wonka Wilson would do anyway. Secondly, it feels so much like classic Deadpool in the most simplistic way that... well, the imagery in my head ended up being that of dark humor in courtesy of the man in red (and black). In fact, there was this one moment where Wade Willy Wonka Wilson traded fire with an arsonist despite standing in the middle of a fiery puddle. At that point of time, an inkling of the real Deadpool reacting to this while shooting made me laugh like a sick juvenile bastard Wade Willy Wonka Wilson truly is.

For Awesome Lunge of Death, there's nothing much for me to say apart from the fact that it's the most effective way to play Deadpool tactically. Just zip by and open fire. If you're close enough, just use your BFF pairing of Muramasa and Masamune.

Real Armor Buster has to be the greatest lol I've ever had in using Deadpool till level 10. Imagine Wade Willy Wonka Wilson's reaction before opening fire. The impact was nothing short of a shotgun one-shot fatality. I don't know about you, but everything about Deadpool's gameplay till level 10 just screams "DEADPOOL!" in a certain... well, for the lack of a better way to describe it, artistic sense.

Verdict-Initially, I planned to get Cable first. After going through this, I changed my mind. Deadpool should be quite straightforward. In fact, he's most likely one of, if not the easiest character to master. The learning curve shouldn't be an issue, but tactically speaking, I can't say the same. He doesn't have Gambit's level of one-shot dps both in terms of area powers and sheer damage (however, this logic is only applicable should Gambit be able to utilize his kinetic gauge). Unlike Nightcrawler, he doesn't have an effective hit-and-run game where the damage can just hit a massive burst (read: Teleport+Bamf Bomb=the reason why Japan lost WW2). Yet, Wade Willy Wonka Wilson shouldn't be seen as a serious choice for serious gamers. He's basically every casual gamer's dream alt where having fun is all that matters. For this reason alone, I think I want to have a Deadpool asap.

Note: Cable's hero synergy involves a total of 4% crit hit chance bonus. That one nearly scored him a victory over Wade Willy Wonka Wilson.

Nightcrawler: From 1 to 60 (and beyond)

I'll have to be brutally frank with myself here. Kurt will most likely become my main with Remy and Wade being my alts. My gaming style involves momentum and tactical movement (whatever the latter term means anyway). Which means Nightcrawler fits my style to a tee. At the same time, I actually identified myself the most with Nightcrawler more than any other Marvel characters. Yes, I do admit having a weakness for girls, women, and ladies. In this sense, I'm like Gambit. Yes, I do admit having a history of struggling with mental/emotional instability. In this sense, I'm like Deadpool. In terms of being (somewhat) a cynic, I do identify myself with Cable. Yet, there are more just a thing which I have in common with the son of Mystique and Azazel.

Like Kurt, I have suffered from social isolation since young. In fact, I have to spend near 20 years of being a social outcast so as to speak. To be honest, not even my family are able to cross over to my side in the same way I'm unable to do the same. Like Kurt, I don't belong to a society others have learnt to take for granted. In fact, Magneto's lengthy preaching to Kurt summed things up just nicely for me. Imagine my future girlfriend's BFF (at Hamburg) asking her questions like these below.

How can your boyfriend forgive those who hurt him, those who trampled upon him?

They laughed at him, physically and verbally bullied him. Some of them betrayed him and one of them called him pus.

They called him annoying, yet they never lifted a finger to help him.

He was punched once in the stomach and character assassinated in a hypocritical way.

His knuckles were stepped upon, no one wanted to be his friend.

How can he forgive these people who trampled upon him?

However, it must be stated that Magneto's questions were filled vitriol and brimming with disbelief (not to mention ire as well). Never mind whether Marvel will make him Scarlet Witch's boyfriend (after all, Wanda's relationship with Vision was officially over while Kurt's romance with Jimaine Szardos was tragically short-lived). Even though I don't identify myself with Nightcrawler's Roman Catholic faith, I do identify myself with him in terms of a common past, living in the same present, and facing an identical, if not at least a similar future.

Note: Skillset 1 is for non-boss duelling. Skillset 2 is for boss duelling and instances involving compulsory team matching/forming. Please note that in every stage, chances are that the final boss would be fighting you either one on one or with minimal adds.

Skillset 1

Left click: Sneak Attack

Right click: Bamf!

A: Righteous Frenzy

S: Brimstone Blitz

D: Bamf Bomb

F: X-Slash

H: Rain of Bamf!

Traits and Talents

The Incredible Nightcrawler; Enguarde!

Surprise Attack; Ausweichen; Infernal Brimstone; Obscuring Brimstone; Carried Momentum

This is mostly focused on crowd clearing. Hence, it's more important to deal as much damage as possible. Initially, I tried Shadowmeld instead of Ausweichen. It works decently well, just that Ausweichen works better. I just did a Google out of curiosity. Apparently, Ausweichen has got nothing to do with any person with Wei in the middle of his/her name. Basically, it means dodge.

Ryan: So did you manage to clear up that misunderstanding caused by your own stupidity?

Me: Yeah. Thankfully, Stevia knew that's just a prank I pulled on Wei Ling

Ryan: Damn, I think you really pulled off an Ausweichen in the form of an understanding girlfriend.

Above skit should be seen as 100% fictional. In the event where fiction becomes more real than non-fiction, I'm pretty sure my future girlfriend would have understood what kind of person I am. To quote Jean Grey here: "Kurt, have you and Logan gotten into trouble again?"

Long story short, Ausweichen provides an easy outlet for added dps. The most important part isn't about the dodge bonus. In fact, it makes more sense to focus on defense rather than dodging for Nightcrawler if we're talking about the blessings (read: just opt for Blessing of Volstagg). I personally find dodging quite... well, dodgy for characters like Kurt. If it's Remy or even Wade Willy Wonka Wilson, they can survive decently on a dodge based build since one is primarily a range-hybrid while the other is too hard (and awesome for that matter) to kill.

As for the so-called Brimstone BFF synergy, it gives plenty of offensive options. In the free-for-all patrol instances, consistent usage of Obscuring Brimstone can speed up any boss fight (this is especially important once you hit the Industrial City with a super BAMF! instead of just a bang). In solo running, this can be used as a last resort reversal. Infernal Brimstone, however, is truly the bomb here. While there's not much point doing a multi-porting with this one, pairing it with some painful combos is a fun thing to do. Which is why there's an X-Slash on standby.

Bamf Bomb, as I've implied via real life history, is extremely lethal. Without stealth or invisible status, it can already deal tons of damage. With either, it's an A-bomb that won't give the mob time to use their F-bomb. The AoE is also damn big, which makes Bamf Bomb the perfect B-bomb to rival the A-bomb (A/N: Because I understand only too well how depraved the human mind can be, let me just stress home the fact that neither bomb has got anything to do with attractive girls in your workplace).

For Sneak Attack, because the damage bonus will persist for 10 secs, using it to link from a Bamf Bomb is something 100% doable. If you can't even perform such a simple one-two combo, you're better off watching YouTube videos of Running Man instead.

Note: Infernal Brimstone, in particular, presents an unpredictable aspect to Kurt's gameplay where a stealth B-Bomb-Sneak Attack combo can be a one-shot alternative to persistent X-Slash. This approach is particularly effective against bosses with high mobility.

Skillset 2

Left click: Swashbuckler Slash

Right click: Bamf!

A: Righteous Frenzy

S: Brimstone Blitz

D: Bamf Bomb

F: Death Blow

H: Rain of Bamf!

Traits and Talents

The Incredible Nightcrawler; Enguarde!

Surprise Attack; Shadowmeld; Element of Surprise; Tireless Teleporter; Crescendo of Steel

This is more of sword build. The difference between a sword build and bare-knuckle teleporting build lies in the nature of the damage. The latter is more about consistent dps while the former is more about lower dps in exchange for large bursts of damage. Because this build is also for final boss fights, survival is of utmost importance. For Nightcrawler, Shadowmeld alone won't compromise the dps. At least not much by my hope. Another jailbreak option would be Tireless Teleporter where the onus lies in a full heal. In this sense, Tireless Teleporter should only be seen as a last resort jailbreak. However, Brimstone Blitz will only give you 5 seconds of invulnerability. In other words, some of the attacks can just one-shot you to fatality's end so long the 5 seconds rule expire. Thankfully, it's possible to cancel the signature attack after the invincible window hit its expiry date. Some of the bosses which can one-shot you include Living Laser and Juggernaut with Man Ape and Rhino being the possible ones as well. Incidentally, I really hate fighting Electro due to his constant AoE electrocution bs.

For Death Blow, it's all about using Element of Surprise and Crescendo of Steel. This is a deadly combo especially if the sword combo meter hit max. In fact, this complements perfectly well the Blessing of Hela, something which I already have on Nightcrawler. At the same time, Death Blow damage actually scales according to the amount of the target's missing HP, so the potential to deal a one-shot damage is quite high. Which is also why I eschewed Sneak Attack in favor of Swashbuckler Slash. The onus of this build lies in meter building. At the same time, using Death Blow while the meter has yet to hit max would amount to quite a hefty damage, so you don't really have to wait for the combo meter to hit max mode (also, dealing Death Blow once the meter hit max would result in increased cooldown since it's a flourish move).

Note: Inspiration for this build comes from Kurt Darkholme, who was actually an alternate version of Kurt Wagner in Age of Apocalypse. Not surprising to see how a different reality can warp even the kindest soul, though.

Add note: My choice of infinity powers hinges on two trees. Namely, Soul and Space. Because I find it quite fun to base my infinity power tree on how I'd envision the respective characters, I actually decided to base my planning on striking a balance between gameplay and canon. For Soul, it's because of a prior episode where he had to host the Soulsword. That plus the fact that he's always a technical fighter rather than one relying on force and aggression. For Space, that's because of how I interpreted the concept of dimension. In Kurt's case, it's the Brimstone Dimension. This was also the reason why I based Gambit's infinity tree on Soul (due to how he honed his fighting capability plus Apocalypse messing him up) and Reality (because the tooltip blatantly linked this tree with the law of physics. And that includes kinetic energy).

P.S: To round things off, I decided to go Google for some Nightcrawler CP artworks.

Credit: Emily369

Credit: Twynsunz

Credit: Lana125

Pretty sure this one is official. I mean the art itself.

Add P.S: Just a question which I sometimes ask myself. Is it possible for one to do an image search on FB without the relevant person's name being tagged? If so, it means my cover might have been officially blown at the courtesy of the entire CT-MRI.