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Well drat, my video editor's tendency to mess around with subtitles strikes again. I should have a fixed file shortly.
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Dec 8, 2021 20:25
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Apprentice fixed, good catch! Seraphic Neoman posted:Nymphs of the Sweetwoods used to be the ultimate reward in one of the card quest chains. This card was important because it resets everything and gives you a powerful blessing. It says something about this game's curse system that this trade-off was always worth it. I would give Nymphs of the Sweetwoods a shot if I were planning on running as an Apprentice again, but... yeah. Explorer's Gift just makes a playthrough easy without necessarily being easy, so I'd understand why someone would set that Fate and just keep playing that way.
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Dec 8, 2021 20:45
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The Hoarder's desire cards sounds like an annoying waste of time, and all for a card you would probably never need or want to use. Especially considering that you would had to already have a set of enchanted gear before you visit there, meaning you likely wouldn't gain much of anything. Edit: Actually I've been meaning to ask, does the Goblin King's crown affect any of the game's encounters? I know Lionel said that he could end his exile if he returned it, and I was wondering if what would happen if you had it in your possession. Tombot fucked around with this message at 23:34 on Dec 8, 2021 |
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Dec 8, 2021 23:31
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Tombot posted:Edit: Actually I've been meaning to ask, does the Goblin King's crown affect any of the game's encounters? I know Lionel said that he could end his exile if he returned it, and I was wondering if what would happen if you had it in your possession. As far as I'm aware, the crown has no use outside of its effect. It's not needed to unlock any other encounters or equipment, and there's nothing else to the Goblins aside from Hoarder's Desire.
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Dec 8, 2021 23:45
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Well that's a rather sad hanging plot thread, especially considering how much you had to go through just to get it.
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Dec 9, 2021 01:32
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Tombot posted:Well that's a rather sad hanging plot thread, especially considering how much you had to go through just to get it. It went by really quickly during the video where it resolved, but basically Mr. Lionel got his exile lifted in return for diming out the PC, and the Goblin King is still the king by default.
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Dec 9, 2021 02:00
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Ah, I imagine that must be the in-universe reason we now keep getting attacked by Goblins. Well I suppose that's at least something, but I still think it's a missed opportunity to not have a special encounter for having the crown.
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Dec 9, 2021 02:10
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True. In the end, though, I think we can be reminded of a valuable lesson: Mister Lionel is a dick.
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Dec 9, 2021 16:50
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Part 17 - Finishing Murder at Sea and Getting the Dragon Relics Murder at Sea (YouTube) The Dragon Relics (YouTube) These bonus videos are all about finishing two major quest lines, wrap up a few loose ends, and make life against the Dealer much easier. You may be tempted to leave at least the Dragon Relics for the post-game, but the payoff is great. There are still encounters left over, which we'll be clearing post-game… and our next video will be back to the story. The Murder at Sea DLC You know what? I really like this DLC. It opens up progressively, has some very neat encounters, and quite a few branching paths:  That's not to say its encounters never fake you out, or there's no difficulty. There is. It's just that I think it's the most fleshed out of the DLC. The rewards are mixed, but overall I'd say great:
Seriously. The Kraken equipment is neat. If you can get it, do it. The Dragon Relics You can start this quest line after defeating the Queen of Scales, after which you have a long and arduous journey over many playthroughs. It's a big step up in difficulty compared to most of the game, so you'd be forgiven for ignoring the quest entirely. For shame! The Dragon Relics you're rewarded with are a fantastic equipment set that is all about fire. Your damage output jumps dramatically by having just one or two pieces, so imagine what happens when you have more. The video really explains this encounter best. Have a look. I could have waited to defeat the last boss before doing this quest line… but the Dragon Relics aren't so good that they'll ruin the dungeon, and the game does want you to grab every advantage you can give yourself. Anaxite fucked around with this message at 21:25 on Jan 4, 2022 |
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Dec 11, 2021 18:53
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I think the Monk's Fate text got superimposed on the Murder at Sea video, otherwise everything's perfect. Kraken turned out to be a much more intricate and interesting fight than I was expecting! Non-Suit Boss enemies seem really hit or miss and this one definitely worked, although I see you did have a lot of gear for it. The Dragon Relics seem straightforward enough, if very rude to acquire. Feels like the sort of thing you'll get if you love playing Endless Mode, more than anything else.
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Dec 11, 2021 19:49
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Jossar posted:I think the Monk's Fate text got superimposed on the Murder at Sea video, otherwise everything's perfect. That explains the problems I had with the Monk's Fate video.
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Dec 11, 2021 20:54
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Thanks for the catch. Fixed again - it might be more interesting to watch now.  The Kraken is really intimidating if you come into it not knowing what to expect. I was sweating bullets the first few times. It gets a lot more manageable as you practice it, though I still don't like the idea of doing it with a Rusty Axe (which can happen). But otherwise it's pretty good! I suspect the Murder at Sea DLC is the longest to make it more likely the Kraken will come when you finished the other DLC, and it's a nice capstone fight. The more I think about the Dragon Relics, the more I see them follow the pattern that has to happen in a card game like this: you show up, get spanked, try again, get spanked some more, and eventually have a breakthrough. At least the reward is good.
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Dec 11, 2021 21:50
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That dragon gear better be some top tier stuff, I've seen this game do some nasty stuff to you in these videos, but never I have I seen it instantly kill you from full health.
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Dec 12, 2021 04:13
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The Dragon Relics quest chain is just nasty and frankly the worst part of it was the first encounter. Getting a Failure THEN a Huge Success is incredibly mean and unintuitive. The 50 Food requirement is also quite the bastard (just 30 food would be hard enough, 150 gold is manageable). The good news is that every one of those pieces is very powerful and very useful. Even if you can't collect the whole set, it doesn't matter. The individual pieces are enough.
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Dec 13, 2021 03:25
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Speaking of which, how did you go about getting all of those resources for this quest with the cards we have at this point? It must have taken a lot of effort and we never really saw any of it.
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Dec 13, 2021 03:43
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My process is more or less the same for all the encounter videos:
The Dragon Relics' quest chain isn't too bad until you get to the Mysterious Parchment. As Seraphic Neoman said, it's manageable; pick up a good weapon early, then sell every equipment you don't necessarily need. Remove cheap equipment from your deck, and slot in many cards that give gold (you can click on them in the deck to see reward types). There were a few runs where Mysterious Parchment appeared too early, though. Caustic Geysers requires you to pick up the right equipment as soon as possible. As every Fate has a helm, it's easier to run as anything but default mode. I also added as many gauntlets to my deck as possible. Pilgrimage is a pain, but you can look at it as a gold challenge dialed up to 11. Put in as many encounter cards that give you food, add food-gaining rings to your deck, and buy food at every opportunity. Go for the 10 food cards in the shops, as they're the best value for money. I would run the dungeon as Explorer if I were having trouble, so I can easily get to the encounters I need without killing the resource. For High Priestess I put in cards like Helpful Priest (not that there are many), and hoped that I would get Call for a Priest early enough that I could buy a ton of blessings. Petward the Monk is actually the easiest of the encounters, since it's a variation of the encounters you find in the Curse of the Lion Prince fate, which I'm showing off later. I would run as the Lion Prince or under Hoarder's Desire, but I found the first one easier. Especially in Endless Mode. When I actually reached an encounter, the game was nice enough to signpost that it's a new card by letting me flip it back-to-front. Stepping on a card and seeing its back was a warning to copy the save file so I can come back to it in case of problems.
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Dec 13, 2021 12:45
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 Part 18 - The Dealer (YouTube) The adventurer has gone up against bandits, skeletons, ratmen, and lizardmen. He went up against a Kraken and lived to tell the tale. He found some mysterious Dragon relics and survived a dragon's fire. Now, at last, he faces the one who has been pulling the strings of the adventure all this time. Most of the commentary in the video was done in post because I wasn't about to try recording over every single attempt. The Dealer's dungeon is nasty! You're almost guaranteed that you won't see a single blessing along the way, as the dealer tries to curse you into oblivion. Just remember that, as the dealer has repeatedly said, he may challenge us but will ultimately be fair. This dungeon is daunting, yet doable. I had to change my deck multiple times before I settled on something that took me to victory. Here are some strategies you can use.
The Dealer There have been Dealers before but none so adept at the game as him. The Dealer has four distinct phases. Each phase features all the Court monsters of one Suit, going from weakest to strongest. After you kill them all, the Dealer has a few attacks. Phase one pits you against the Jack, Queen, and King of Dust. When they go down, the Dealer slams his fists and creates some explosions. Phase two pits you against the Jack, Queen, and King of Skulls. The Dealer then creates some static lines that will damage you if you step in them. Phase three pits you against the Jack, Queen, and King of Plague. The Dealer create explosions, then creates some lines that will rotate 45 degrees from his hand around the table, first counter-clockwise, then clockwise. Phase three pits you against the Jack, Queen, and King of Scales. The Dealer create explosions, then creates some lines that will rotate 90 degrees from his hand around the table, first counter-clockwise, then clockwise. Make sure to be on the far edges of the board to avoid getting hurt… like I did a few times. It's possible the Dealer will create more explosions depending on where you're standing, but I haven't figured out the mechanics for sure. After his initial attacks, the Dealer forces you into a quick time event as he throws a ball of energy at you. Hit the reflect button at the right time to throw the energy back at him, at which point you can attack him until he gets back up. If you fail to reflect the ball, you have one chance to hit the dodge button to stay alive and try the event again. Optimizing your deck for the dealer So you want to attempt the dealer yourself? Here are some tips on stacking the deck you may find useful. Card choices There are specific cards I like to have. Some of them haven't been unlocked yet, and some of them I already mentioned above, but I want to go over my short list:
Your list may vary, but I at least stand by the non-combat cards above. Since you can't avoid combat, pick the options that work best for you. Equipment choice Let me first say that the Dragon Relics are an obvious choice. They are that good. But what about everything else? I like faster weapons that have high damage. All the non-hammer weapons with 30+ damage can stay in the deck. I would also pick Frost Fang, for its effects, and the Kraken Claw (which we haven't seen) for its ability to ignore Lizardmen shields. Shieldbreaker may be good, but I haven't gotten a good feel for it. Shields are limited, but the old standbys Innocence and Fortitude's Breath are always useful. The Skeleton King shield is useful as well. Armor becomes tougher to pick. Mithril and Immovable Object are in by virtue of their advantage vs relative protection level. Depth of Night's ability to redraw monster cards could be useful in some combats. If you feel like you're good at dodging, Wilderness Armor is a good choice; I spoke up against it in an earlier video, but its speed and damage boost are great for dodging. Helmets… ugh. So many helmets. I have difficulty choosing, but there are a few I would use: - Oracle's Diadem, for telling me where to go. - Explorer's Helmet, for direction and bonuses. - Fate's Folly, for giving me gold on good success. - Healing Cap, for walk-healing (though I don't always use it). - Herne's Antlers, for the boss. - Scavenger's Cap, for the food gain There are other good choices depending on your play style. There aren't many gauntlets, but I will always love Hag's Wraps. Assassin's Greed and Mage Gloves can be good to give you more gold or faster combats, respectively. I also have a hard time selecting artefacts, but Lightning Crash, Inferno Potion, Feathered Ice, and Mage Strike are nice. I would not say no to Mercenary Contract if I'm planning on going shopping. Rings will be the hardest equipment to arrange in your deck. My main advice is to avoid picking rings that activate less, or have a lower chance. For example, the Trader's Ring (sell equipment to get food) sounds nice, but there are curses that prevent you from selling items. The Ring of Poverty making you lose all your gold for Max Health is a tough sell when I want the gold. And any ring that requires a blessing is automatically out. There are three I can think of that I do like, though: - We haven't yet seen the Occult Ring (unlocked from the Cursed Treasure), but that's a good choice. It gives extra damage for each curse you have. - The Master Ring gives you gold per ring you have after every encounter. It can reduce the fear of food loss, or gold loss if you got affected by the curse that makes you eat gold. - The Plunderer's Ring gives you gold and health on Gain. There isn't always Gain, but it will happen throughout the dungeon. Optimizing shop choice One thing I didn't really touch on much in the LP is how shops have different costs. A regular Shop will always be a bit more expensive, for example, and of the two curse-removing shops, the Priest is cheaper than the Healer. There is a bit of risk in holding on to resources in favor of finding a cheaper shop, but it's not a bad idea to do so. Anaxite fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Jan 4, 2022 |
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Dec 14, 2021 13:01
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I swear by Feathered Ice, especially for the Scales phase. The Dealer becomes much harder without the Dragon equipment, if you can't get that quest done, use Thunderstrike and something like Feathered Ice/Lightning Strike like you said. I really cannot put into words how much Dealer's Curse sucks. Excommunication is also mean as all hell, but that one can be dealt with, DC on the other hand is a game over roulette. If you can remove it on floor 1 with Soul Gem, you should. Well done, though. This level is a right bastard.
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Dec 14, 2021 18:49
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Good game! I'm wondering though, what happens if you get tokens on the way to the dealer? It jumped directly to the credits without the normal token reveal sequence. Do you still unlock them?
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Dec 14, 2021 19:25
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I tried really hard to get tokens to unlock in a doable run, but I think it'll be one of those mysteries I didn't get to solve. I think the after-credits part would be where it lets you unlock them (and it would be silly for the game to not let you). I also wonder if the tokens would be sitting in the bowl on the table throughout the fight. I'll ask a few people who might know. In any event, we've still got a couple more videos in the LP, starting with those encounters I couldn't finish in previous runs.
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Dec 14, 2021 20:04
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You got some really good luck in this run, but that last boss looked like it really sucked. I mean how the hell are you supposed to know where those explosions are going to be coming from? Also it did not look like they balanced that last challenge for keyboard users at all.
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Dec 15, 2021 01:10
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Congratulations! Here's to the rest of the end game!
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Dec 15, 2021 03:42
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Tombot posted:You got some really good luck in this run, but that last boss looked like it really sucked. I mean how the hell are you supposed to know where those explosions are going to be coming from? Also it did not look like they balanced that last challenge for keyboard users at all. It did suck! I've since found out that the explosions are telegraphed by a light effect I couldn't see at all during this recording. Somehow they were nearly invisible for this run, so... graphical glitches? My mistake? I don't know. I can at least say that the keyboard situation is good or bad depending on how you look at it.
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Dec 15, 2021 13:44
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Wait, what do y'all use if not a keyboard?
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Dec 15, 2021 17:37
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I think you could plug in an Xbox controller and use that instead.
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Dec 15, 2021 17:50
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Quackles posted:Wait, what do y'all use if not a keyboard? The game has controller support and combat is MUCH easier with a controller. I don't know how Anaxite hasn't gone insane trying to do trap mazes on keyboard.
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Dec 15, 2021 18:42
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Dec 15, 2021 20:53
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Part 19, Bonus 4 - Encounter roundup Finishing Charity, Demon Trader, and Blood Auction(YouTube) Final Generic Encounters (YouTube) A shorter update as we add even more cards to the deck. Charity, Demon Trader, Blood Auction These encounters all work in similar ways, and almost all give rings with their token. They're useful for rounding out your deck. Charity gives you more Success Chance cards to work with the more food you donate. Charity 1-3 have lower requirements, 4-5's are higher, and 6 requires the most food. Notes suggest donating more than 30 food guarantees at least one blessing even on failure. Demon Trader takes Blessings. The first one takes one blessing, 2-5 need two, 6 needs three. Demon Trader 3 is also how we got the Secret Society encounter. Blood Auction is simpler, as all six encounters work the same: bid more health, get more Success Chance cards to work with. The Last Encounters These aren't the last encounters with a token that can appear in our deck, but they're the last ones that need to come from the generic deck. The others are involved with the Warlord Fate. I like all of these cards for what they bring to the table. Some of them are downright useful, others are strongly risk/reward scenarios, and ultimately it's just all options. Anaxite fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Jan 29, 2022 |
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Dec 17, 2021 14:21
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Youtube says both videos are private.
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Dec 17, 2021 16:22
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Fixed, thanks.
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Dec 17, 2021 18:08
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Part 20, Bonus 5 - Fate roundup #2 Shadow Agent (YouTube) Iron Hunger (YouTube) Curse of the Lion Prince (YouTube) Warlord (YouTube) The last four fates I'm showing off are a bit longer. One is a bit easier and very suited for the start of the game, but the others definitely require more effort and late-game attention. It's up to you, but you might be at them for a while. Shadow Agent The adventurer's already a bastard, so why not make it official? You trade away a bit of offensive capability, but gain a small modifier to luck in chance events, which could increase the number of success cards or slow down the shuffling. And the encounters are all about chance events. The Fate's helm is the only reward you get, and it will show you chance events on the map when you start a floor. This isn't the best of effects, but it's not useless, and the Fate's encounters are enough of a breeze that it's a proportionate reward. The low combat ability is the only reason this Fate isn't outright easy mode, but it's one of the simpler ones to try out. Iron Hunger I will be showing off Iron Hunger a bit more before the LP is over, but it's good to get an understanding of how the Fate works.
The helm you get gives you food for gaining equipment, which could have its uses. You also get a generic encounter that requires 50 ore to give you max health; it doesn't seem like a great deal, but it makes the Metal Ore even more useful in some runs. Curse of the Lion Prince I like the Fate, I hate the encounters. You start at 40 health, and every kill nets you +2 health, no questions asked. This also works on reanimated skeletons. If you can get past the initial low health hump, this Fate can carry you a pretty long time; a somewhat upgrade from the default mode. The encounters, though... oof. The three Test of Pride encounters start a bit difficult but end downright awful. Test of Pride 1: Requires you to have above 120 max health. There's different dialogue for having max health between 100 and 120, a kind of "nearly there." Test of Pride 2: Also adds a condition that your current health shouldn't be too low (possibly lower than half), but it's bugged. Test of Pride 3: Also adds a condition that you have no curses. This is insane. Any dungeon which is long enough to make 120+ max health easy will have curses, and the Dealer curses ain't cheap to remove. Which makes this about gold, too. How do you deal with these encounters? You have a few options depending on which encounter you're trying to clear.
But remember how I said encounter #2 is bugged? If you look in the game files, you'll see the second encounter does have a low health check implemented... somewhere, but the encounter can never trigger it:  On top of that, encounters #2 and #3 have incorrect finish dialogue. Something didn't go quite right, and it wasn't caught. Anyhow. The helmet you unlock is okay, though some people say it's bugged and has no effect. The generic Test of Pride encounter you get as well is just as hard as the last one the Fate had to do, so I will probably never, ever do it. Ever. If I managed, I'd get a sword that does greater damage against royal enemies (the Court), and that can do a blow that scales with my Max Health. Ehhh. As I said, I like the Fate, I hate the encounters. Warlord The Warlord Fate consists of many encounters, though only a handful are needed to get the Achievement. The rest will be added to the additional Warlord cards when starting a run until they're completed, but can also be done as generic cards. The quest line will be long, culminating in an encounter that suggests we're breaking all of reality itself. Seriously, the encounters we unlock by completing Warlord are pretty nice, even if they're punishingly difficult. I'm grateful that there's so much variety; it makes Hard Mode a lot more intriguing. And did I mention hard? Just have a look. Anaxite fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Jan 4, 2022 |
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Dec 19, 2021 13:01
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So, is that 100% completion? Well done.
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Dec 19, 2021 14:27
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Goddamn, well done dude not even I managed to have the patience to 100% this poo poo. Ah, I see they shoved all the dangerous cards into Warlord. Figures. These cards used to unlock super early (except for Blacksmith) before Fates were implemented so the card danger was veeeery wonky. I actually never failed Royal Treasury but I succeeded only like 3 times, the rest of the time I passed it by. 3 Huge Failures? No thank you. gently caress The Blacksmith. I spent such a long time in that loving cave. Crushing Grips are also not worth the hassle, especially seeing as they are effectively locked behind Hard Mode's encounters. The Wheel of the Gods is an interesting idea but I wish it wasn't chance-based. I get that yeah it's meant to be a gamble but I think being forced to pick which resources you'd trade off for others would make the card much more interesting and useful. It's well worth doing Warning Signs, especially on a fresh game, because I swear by Plunder's Cap. That one is actually one of the best helms in the game imo. It's a shame it's blocked by such a mean loving encounter. Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 16:25 on Dec 19, 2021 |
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Dec 19, 2021 16:11
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I know these videos make these encounters look short and easy, but I cannot imagine how long these must have taken to complete.
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Dec 19, 2021 18:26
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I'm extremely pleased with the unlocks, but I hope nobody blames me if I take a break from the game  Seraphic Neoman posted:Ah, I see they shoved all the dangerous cards into Warlord. Figures. These cards used to unlock super early (except for Blacksmith) before Fates were implemented so the card danger was veeeery wonky. I actually never failed Royal Treasury but I succeeded only like 3 times, the rest of the time I passed it by. 3 Huge Failures? No thank you. Since I don't quite remember the game before the update, it's harder for me to appreciate what they did... but knowing what they moved around, I think it was a good idea. Basically, I don't think this is a game where 100 percenting it is necessarily a lot of fun. It's more suited as the kind of game where you try a few things, experiment with different play styles, and start it up every so often. Not all encounters are fair, and some are just awful, but if you put it in the larger context of a game where most encounters will be available to you and a few people will have the special experience to get some very specific cards, I'm a little more forgiving of the game. Take Cursed Treasure, for instance. The encounter sucks, but the Occult Ring it gives is fantastic. Test of Pride 3 is awful, but someone somewhere was bound to run into it and succeed. Wheel of the Gods brings out the gambler in us. That's not to say I don't wish the frustrating encounters were different. I do think there's something about their balance that could have used the work. But as a whole package, the game is a lot of fun/ There are two videos left. They're both long ones. Now that everything's unlocked, we're going for gold.
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Dec 19, 2021 21:37
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What could possibly be left for us to do at this point?
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Dec 20, 2021 02:59
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Anaxite posted:That's not to say I don't wish the frustrating encounters were different. I do think there's something about their balance that could have used the work. But as a whole package, the game is a lot of fun/ I agree, but I feel like the game would be better if it was a bit more dynamic. Like I would love if Royal Treasury gave you a Devilish Traps-level difficulty maze instead of just Yet Another Chance wager. This is a big problem I have with the sequel especially since some parts of it were made worse with the inclusion of that loving dice gambit.
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Dec 20, 2021 06:22
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Tombot posted:What could possibly be left for us to do at this point? Endless Mode gets even more vicious if you get deep enough, and having all the cards/equipment makes for a more interesting run. There's also the matter of giving the dealer some extra punishment for everything he put us through.
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Dec 20, 2021 11:36
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Now I'm hoping for some crazy build that lets you "win" endless by going so deep the score counter maxes out or whatever.
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Dec 20, 2021 12:59
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I wish the game let me go that crazy, but we do have a build that lets us get pretty far  . The only problem is that once you get far enough, the game decides it's had enough and you deserve to die. There's a particular curse that will block your healing, and you start getting it around level 30. It's not an outright death sentence but it's the closest thing to one.
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Dec 20, 2021 13:57
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