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IIRC from a previous LP, the three challengers were specifically designed by players \ beta testers?
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Jul 24, 2020 19:35
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"Don't get hit, or you'll instantly die" certainly seems like the game taking a very definite side in dodge vs. armour tanking.
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Jul 25, 2020 17:32
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David Corbett posted:"Don't get hit, or you'll instantly die" certainly seems like the game taking a very definite side in dodge vs. armour tanking. Heavy armor is notably more useful if you're playing a character who is trying to both fight and do some other stuff on the side. For a pure fighter, light armor and a huge Dodge score with a big weapon will do you. Against most enemies, though, having some Crit Defense through your armor is really important, Widowmaker is just 'a guy with all 10s in every combat skill, every advantage applied to his weapon, and the most powerful single weapon in the game'. He is a completely maxed out enemy, and kind of an aberration on the combat system.
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Jul 25, 2020 17:46
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Part XXXIII: The birthplace of the Gods One last thing to do before going to Al-Akia: investigating the monastery the healer told us about back when we first arrived at Maadoran.   This feels like the time we had to rescue a noble from bandits back in Teron.  Yep, I'm pretty awesome.   Okay, let's cut to the chase.   Another fight? Yawn.       Sounds like these people have a nice setup.  : So, you stayed up here, hidden from the world? Me, for one.  : Surely you have stories about it. What do they say? : Do you have an elixir called the Extract of Amaranthus? Interesting.   There's little to do in the village. Most of the people have only "Thanks for saving us," or "Talk to the Elder," or "The vault is off-limits," dialogue. The Elder himself has nothing else to say and can only sell us reagents. One of the few who can actually converse with us is the guy in white.  Hell, let's talk to him.  : I was lucky. But I've always been lucky when it comes to killing folks. : You only get one life. Are you sure you want to spend it hiding up in the mountains?  : It's your decision, not mine. Think it through; consider how it would affect the community. If you leave, others might leave too. Without enough people to maintain and defend this place, it will soon cease to exist. : They will notice you when you're gone, trust me. Ugh, zoomers.   Very interesting. This was a medical facility.  : Why would a god be locked for eternity?  : Sacred formulae? Given everything we've seen so far, I don't think these warnings are exaggerated. : What else do you know about your ancestors? HA  Yeah, I don't think so.  This fellow with the crossbow is the only other person we can talk to.    : Clearly I'm not with the raiders though.   : None, I suppose. But I will not. I respect your fear and concern. Perhaps I can actually help.   Here's the entrance to the vault.  : I just killed a dozen raiders. You sure you want to be in my way? Wait, really? That worked? Huh.  Nothing here save for an elevator.  Big place.     There's also a strongbox containing the Extract of Amaranthus, but we don't want it. I'll explain in a moment.    Bor-ring!     We've been on the other side of this door -- the portal in the well led there. It's where we found the sarcophagus that increased our stats. If we leave at this point, the Elder confronts us and kicks us out of the village, even if we don't take anything. If we took the Extract, we'd be forced to either hand it over or kill all the villagers. Giving the Extract to the healer rewards us with the Regeneration Potion, which gives us +1 hp per turn in combat, but we permanently lose 5 hp. Essentially, it's like the Power Armor's hidden fourth mode, but worse, so forget it. Let's reload a save and get out of here.  : I've been to that village. : The man lied. There are no vats or elixirs there.  That's our good deed for the day. Enough faffing around.  : I'm ready to accompany you to Al-Akia, brother. Don't do that!   : These loremasters need full access to the site. You and your men are to stand guard while we explore the complex. : Do you see any engineers here? You know why? They won't arrive until the loremasters report back. So the sooner we start, the sooner you get to go home. By the way, the only way you'll see the inside of Al-Akia is if you team up with Meru.  Time to find the ritual chamber. But first, let's chat.   : Are you really going to sacrifice yourself?   Meru's intentions seem good, but there is that proverb about the road to Hell.    Thanks, Antidas. Fucker.  Oh boy, a bunch of tanks and esoteric machines.    I don't think so. There are several places where we can go downstairs, but most are dead ends. There's a door across from the entrance that leads to where we want to go.    Looks like the living quarters.     These are Abu Hassan's notes. He certainly was arrogant.   "Won" being a relative term.  I think we can assume it's safe.    Hang on -- the legends say Abu Hassan crafted something that would allow him to visit other planes. Could this be it?   The game didn't show this, but this whole complex is housed inside a pyramid buried in sand.  Abu Hassan was not a popular guy.   Too bad we don't find out his reaction to the Gods breaking free and annihilating everything. To proceed, we need to use the staircase near the glass columns.   Soundtrack: The Ritual The music changes to something more sinister.   A Lore of 9 is necessary to perform the ritual. Sabotaging it is probably the smart thing to do, but I want to see what happens.    jesus tapdancing christ   Meru?  oh gently caress no Spoilers: it's Balzaar. You know, Chief of the Demons, the one crippled by Abu Hassan?  um...  Soundtrack: Combat III Balzaar/Fake Meru is actually a pushover. After all, he's just been transferred into a new body and is still weak. If he was at full power... well, try not to think about it.   Surprisingly, I agree with Faelan.   Nothing else here. Let's gtfo.      Our final mission: find the temple. There's one last thing to do before I end the update.  We're back at the Arch. Let's hope this armor works.            ... Next Time: Goonius Christ
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Aug 1, 2020 22:48
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Not sure I really understand what the Legatus in that one scroll claimed to have solved with the fail-safe and etc.
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Aug 2, 2020 02:32
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GunnerJ posted:Not sure I really understand what the Legatus in that one scroll claimed to have solved with the fail-safe and etc. I'm not certain either, but my interpretation was that he told the Quantari to make the fail safe, which they presumably did not (and had no intention to) do. So this Legatus loving with the Magus may have been responsible for the gods being able to get free. Maybe? Also, I just wanted to say, I've really been loving this LP!
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Aug 2, 2020 03:48
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My guess is the Qantari purposely sabotaged the fail safe and the Legatus replaced the three dead champions with wards with three soldiers...without wards. Nice payoff about the glass helmet. Also glad to see unknowable godlike entities are just as prone to never learning as we are.
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Aug 2, 2020 04:41
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Gods and men, everyone is capable of being foolish in the Age of Decadence.
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Aug 2, 2020 04:57
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The lore for this game is very intriguing. I followed the previous LP years ago but I don't remember it being so complex. The creators managed to simulate the decay of truth over time really well where ancient technology is seen as magic. Do we ever find out what happened to Abu Hasan or is it just assumed that he got blown up at some point? For that matter is there a background lore bible for the game?
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Aug 14, 2020 21:18
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I haven't abandoned this lp, but life has made it difficult to work on this right now. Hopefully I'll get out an update soon.
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Sep 17, 2020 05:05
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So it is. I hope we get to do intensely stupid things like injecting ourselves with dead gods and tinkering with an ages old nuke and launch it with a trash catapult.
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Sep 17, 2020 07:05
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Part XXXIV: The power of money compels you It's been a while, but I'm back. Part of the problem was that my capture software would randomly crap out, which means checking every. Single. Screenshot. Which means updates take much longer than usual. Sigh!  Back with Gaius Goonius, we were sent to Ganezzar to investigate Athanasius's claims that Meru is a bigger threat than previously thought. No camp of Aurelians to deal with. Let's talk to the guy in red.     We don't need the pendant, but information is always welcome. : I'll buy the amulet if you answer my questions.     Stuff we know from the previous playthrough, but whatever. When we enter the town...  Stop right there, criminal scum! The correct answer is obvious. : I bow to no man but the Gods who watch over us from their heavenly abode. Simple.  The Commercium building is near the temple. Athanasius's office is on the second floor, of course.  He's almost a Dreamworks Face.     Athanasius wants to use Meru's creed for his own ends. : Easier said than done. : And if I fail? : You mentioned some rumors...  We know Meru found the star room and that turned him into a believer. : Do you believe in stories of gods and demons? Glad to see Athanasius keeps an open mind. : You mentioned a prophet... Yeah, we met that freak in the main playthrough.  : You mentioned other people... Ugh, don't get me started on Faelan...  Off to the castle.  Good thing we passed ourselves off as the messiah way back in Teron. : My name is Gaius Goonius. I believe my arrival was foretold. That's right, kiss my feet.  The intro with Meru is the same, except for this part. : I have many questions... Meru is suspicious of us, naturally. : I *claim* to be chosen, not all knowing. The gods have told me to come here, for it is in this holy city that my destiny will be revealed. I didn't feel that it was my place to question them, but I would question my brother in the faith to better understand the path the gods have laid down for me.  : And you think you can bring them back? : Gateways? Just gotta open a wormhole. : What makes you think they have our best interests at heart? please please please don't sic faelan on me : Forgive me for questioning you in such a direct manner, Brother. I merely wish to hear you speak on this most worthy subject. lmfao  Antidas is a real whipping boy among the nobles.  ok boomer      : The House of Worship?  We've gone as far as we can with Meru. Back to Athanasius.  : I did what Meru asked, but he isn't ready to let me in yet.    : Miracles? He has a point.   Everything's ready. Talking to Athanasius advances the plot.  : I'm ready to do some miracles!  pay no attention to the crowd blinking out of existence    Like taking candy from a baby.  Uh oh. Maybe we can bullshit our way out of this. : What ails you, brother? Insert COVID joke here. Let's try healing him with sheer force of will.   I COMMAND THE DEMONS INFECTING THIS MAN'S LUNGS TO COME OUT!  drat it   Yeah, like anyone will believe that load of --  Oh. If you can't "heal" the sick man, you have to convince the zealot you're the real deal.  Meru isn't happy another holy man is on his territory. : Did you not tell me to go and inspire people with my actions?  : Has my coming not been foreshadowed? Have the tales of my deeds not reached your ears? The Gods brought me here not to be judged by mortal men but to do Gods' work. Only they can question the depth of my devotion. I have a bad feeling about this. Meru takes us to the star room as he did with Octavia. Surprisingly, Gaius Goonius's stats are high enough to survive sitting in the throne.  : I'm humbled by the Gods' graces. : They said our destinies are intertwined and that together we'll bring the Gods' Kingdom to earth.  The only thing left to do is speak to Meru and OH MY GOD IS THAT WHO I THINK IT IS  It's FENG!         It's always nice to see a familiar face.  Next Time: Al-Akia, but boring
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Oct 7, 2020 01:27
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Huh. I've never been able to bring myself to betray Feng so seeing him there is quite a surprise!
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Oct 7, 2020 02:03
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Super happy to see this back! And can't wait to see what dickishness the merchants are going to get into now.
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Oct 7, 2020 21:21
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The fake miracles are great.
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Oct 8, 2020 21:15
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Part XXXV: Errand boy Time to go to Al-Akia. : I'm ready to join the expedition.  Meru stays behind this time.    : What is this complex?      Oh, right, House Aurelian doesn't want House Crassus nosing around old ruins. I forgot about that. Maybe we can talk our way out of this.   : But do you know why it is forbidden? Do you know what House Aurelian is hiding from you? : Is that what you're going to tell the Gods when they return? That their Holy Place was closed off for a *reason*? That you kept the faithful in the darkness for a *reason*? : The holiest, brother. We all know that the Gods answered our call during the Great War, but nobody knows what it actually means. Well, it's your lucky day because I do. This is where they descended from their heavenly abode. This is the ground they first stood on, the ground made holy by their mere touch! : Think about it, brother. If you bow to the Gods, you aren't bowing to the lords. So, the question you should be asking yourself is to whom you'd rather bow, because at the moment the choice is yours and nobody can take it from you. God drat, I am one smooth talker.  Yep, we don't get to go inside Al-Akia this time. Sad!  poo poo.  : We found Al-Akia!   Meru must be desperate if he's making a deal with the likes of Paullus. : What do you offer?  We should speak with Athanasius.  : I did if you consider the Aurelian army outside the city walls a sign of things going according to plan.    Talking to Varro is only necessary if you want to help Athanasius, which I'm not going to do for reasons that will become clear shortly.    Strabos is keeping an eye on us.  We're at Caer-Tor, the headquarters of the Imperial Guards.  Dux Paullus is, naturally, sitting in a giant office surrounded by sentries.  Oh, joy.   : I think you should join forces with House Aurelian and help them take Ganezzar.  : If you side with Serenas, the conflict will be over for good. House Aurelian will rule all and you'll be his sword. If you side with Meru, you'll have to fight House Aurelian sooner or later.  : And then? Oof. Paullus definitely isn't a brainless thug.  : Unprovoked? Carrinas was planning to overthrow Antidas and take over.  Yeesh. If you can't convince Paullus or you don't like the deal he offers, you can go to Teron and convince Antidas to join the Aurelians. Except Antidas doesn't want to do that, so you have to talk to Linos, since he's really in charge of the sellsword army. Except Linos gets cold feet unless Mercado agrees to help, so you have to talk to Mercado. It's a big pain in the rear end and I'd prefer get this over ASAP. : We have a deal. We're more or less a hostage. Whee.     Ew.   : And what do I get? gently caress you.   If you convince Varro to kill Faelan and get Antidas to take Ganezzar, Athanasius is put in charge instead.  Gee, thanks. : Thank you, master Strabos.  And that, for all intents and purposes, is the end of the merchant playthrough. Next time: Return of the stab
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Oct 11, 2020 00:14
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The Merch: You sell the world and get 1000 coins.
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Oct 11, 2020 00:42
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Did we meet Maseus before? Merchants are stingy bastards, who knew?
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Oct 11, 2020 02:45
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As the merch, your bosses are using the persuasion skills on you, to get you to use your persuasion skills on others, for a comfortable sum that is a pittance next to what you accomplish and the vain hope of promotion.
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Oct 11, 2020 02:52
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Night10194 posted:As the merch, your bosses are using the persuasion skills on you, to get you to use your persuasion skills on others, for a comfortable sum that is a pittance next to what you accomplish and the vain hope of promotion. Wow, I was expecting the Merchant would get more out of all their asshatery. Funny that I thought there was a theme in this game about people who use violence (the merc/guard) being used, but in fact it's turtles all the way down. Unless you're a loremaster...
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Oct 11, 2020 03:35
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Glad this LP is back. To be fair, if I was Strabos I'd be feeling like the Merchant is getting a little too good at overthrowing people so a reward that isn't a knife to the guts isn't bad.
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Oct 12, 2020 05:32
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Part XXXVI: Winners do drugs In the Boatmen of Styx playthrough, Gaius Stabbius was sent to Ganezzar to kill Meru on behalf of Lord Gaelius. Looks like the Aurelians made it here first.  : Must be my lucky day. grumble grumble    Yikes.  Off to the guild, which we know is a pile of rubble.     Varro, eh?  To the castle!  : I have an urgent message for master Varro.  Varro is in one of the back rooms.  He sounds trustworthy!   : What happened to the guild?   : So you're working for Meru now? You can tell he's very broken up over the death of his fellow guild members. : What exactly do you do for him? : Heresy?    : So he might be a madman?  : Just like that? It's not like we have anything better to do... : I'm in.   Oh sure, sounds simple. : Break the siege? The two of us?     Our first task is to kill Hagnon. No problem; I didn't like him anyway.  : How about poison? : Why is it always me who has to go in first? Okay, he has a point. : And if they do raise an alarm, then what? Everything's good on my end, so let's do this.  : Let's pay Legatus Hagnon a visit.  Boy, am I thirsty!  You need a critical strike of 8 for this next part.  They don't have anything we need, so let's skedaddle.   Interesting.  Glabrio is Ganezzar's guildmaster for the Forty Thieves.  Varro could give Faelan a run for his money in deadly stares.  Back at the castle, and back to Varro for another mission.  : Any news? That's a surprise -- Faelan's is Meru's biggest supporter from what we've seen.   : What about the Aurelians? We killed the Legatus but they're still sitting out there. : What's the best way to do it? No time like the present.  Faelan, we meet at last.  Oh poo poo! Only one thing to do: get high!  TRIPPIN' BALLS  Faelan is tough. He's got high dex and there's four of him, which means our lightly armored assassin can get overwhelmed. I don't recommend fighting him unless you have at least 8 in Dodge and a weapon skill.  Even after killing two, the others gang up and rip me to shreds.  Dark.  I manage to kill him on the next try. Good riddance. Death Count: 58  Seems Varro took Faelan's place.   This had better not be a trap.   Hamza! Buddy!   : Why do you want Meru dead? : What about Faelan? I thought he was helping you. This line implies Varro lied about Faelan helping the Boatmen. It makes sense, because it's totally out of character for Faelan to betray Meru. : Sure, I can get you in. gently caress no. : I'm loyal to my guild. Unlike you.  It's Gaius Stabbius and two assassins against Varro and four spear guards, aka the worst type of guard. It goes as well as you'd expect.  Have I said how much l love these death screens?  Varro is the primary target. The assassins do a good job of distracting the guards, but dally too much and you'll end up getting curb stomped. Nets and bolas are, as always, a good way of gimping the enemy. Eventually, I stumble upon the right combination of moves and strategic retreats to win. Death Count: 61  Hamza is hardcore.     : Adventure. Excitement. An assassin craves not these things.  grumble grumble Next Time: Office politics
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Oct 12, 2020 19:52
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Huh interesting. Kinda surprised Varro was sticking with Meru given his description is all about pragmatism. Probably would've been smart to get the gently caress out once an army showed up on the doorstep, especially if you're not a true believer. I guess he'd prefer being a big fish in a small pond with Meru vs. just another assassin? Curious what happens if you tell Hagnon about him right away? Does that mean Faelan (love the trippy fight scene and death description by the way) is there with Meru when Hamza and co. show up?
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Oct 12, 2020 23:35
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Guper posted:Huh interesting. Kinda surprised Varro was sticking with Meru given his description is all about pragmatism. Probably would've been smart to get the gently caress out once an army showed up on the doorstep, especially if you're not a true believer. I guess he'd prefer being a big fish in a small pond with Meru vs. just another assassin? Curious what happens if you tell Hagnon about him right away? Does that mean Faelan (love the trippy fight scene and death description by the way) is there with Meru when Hamza and co. show up? Telling Hagnon about Varro is simply a way to get his guards out of the tent.
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Oct 13, 2020 00:14
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Huh. When I was playing my Boatman she just stabbed the poo poo out of Faelen with her eyes closed.
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Oct 13, 2020 00:23
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Part XXXVII: Just following orders Gaius Brutus is at Caer-Tor to meet Paullus. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us.   I try my best. : What do you think about Carrinas' actions? : Emotional? : We? : What are you going to do with Carrinas?  Surprisingly, Paullus is siding with Meru in this timeline. : House Aurelian won't like it.   It turns out Paullus wants to force Gaelius to the negotiating table, so he's using Meru to do it. : What does Meru want in the ruins?  It's much more than gadgets, but never mind. : About Carrinas... : What outcome do you seek? Pining for the glory days when the Imperial Guard meant something.    God drat it.  Time to go lick more boots...  Raenas is right next door.  I can tell this will go smoothly.   We're a dumb grunt, so all of these options will fail.  Now the goal is to convince two of three centurions -- Farro, Barnus, and Diocletus -- to throw their support behind us. Before we do that, let's explore a bit.  Here's Carbo, the guy who bailed us out when we fought the Ordu. Lucky guy has his own room.   : So you don't disapprove of what Carrinas has done?      Two things we learn from this conversation: 1. Paullus inspires a lot of loyalty, and 2. House Aurelian might be weaker than it seems.  On the other side of the building is this guy.   heh, "annals"  : No mercenary has much of a future. You either end up scrambling around on all fours trying to stuff your liver back in its hole, or you live to become a broken down beggar waiting for a copper coin but half the time settling for a young woman's spit. I know which I prefer. Thanks for the contribution.  I get the feeling he's told this story a few times. : Doesn't your whole existence revolve around dusty laws and traditions? Ooh, saucy.   So we learn how the current situation between the Guard and the Houses came to be. : And lived happily ever after? : So what happened to the other four Houses? Sounds, uh, fair?  Holy poo poo.  I'm sorry, am I distracting you from your important task of standing around?  Here's Farro, the first centurion we need to talk to.   Because we fought the Ordo at the pass, he automatically backs us. Thanks, Farro!  Next is Barnus. It took me some time to find him because he's at a training field on the western edge of the fort. Side note: talking to the centurion next to the fighting pen can raise your ranged skills if you've put enough points into them.  Here we loving go...  : Absolutely.  gently caress you, gimme my axe. : I'm ready. Four against one, but our Block skill is high enough that I can shrug off most of their attacks and my armor absorbs the hits that do land. I had to chase the spear guy around the pen, which was tedious.  We can go back to Raenas now, but we might as well get all three on our side.  Talking to the nearby healer gives us a bonus conversation.    : I have to admit, this camp isn't what I expected. : And everyone listens to him?   Ah, the joys of being a legionary. : Did you know Carrinas?  : Interesting. Alright, you can fix me up now. Gross, dude.  And here's Diocletus, the final centurion.   More fetch quests... : I'll go get your steel then. : Not very friendly, are you? Tee hee.   You need a Trade skill of 3 or you're not getting any blue steel, period, and you only get one chance at this. Thankfully, I have just enough points. : Everything is for sale. People who claim otherwise are simply waiting for a better offer. : I'll take it.  : I have the blue steel. Finally! Back to Raenas.  Getting all three centurions to support us boots our rep with the Guard. : So what's your problem with Carrinas?  Smile and nod... : You have a point there.   Man, this place reeks of fascism.  : Legatus Raenas has agreed to give me five legionaries. I'm ready to depart. I'm splitting this update in two. Hopefully, I'll upload the second part later today. Next Time: Upping the body count
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Oct 13, 2020 20:53
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Aurelian might be weaker than it looks, but you've always got to be suspicious of reactionary right-wing militarists saying 'our superior spirit makes every man in our army worth 3 of theirs' when it comes to planning a campaign, too.
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Oct 13, 2020 21:04
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Night10194 posted:Aurelian might be weaker than it looks, but you've always got to be suspicious of reactionary right-wing militarists saying 'our superior spirit makes every man in our army worth 3 of theirs' when it comes to planning a campaign, too. Well, it's not so much spirit as it is experience. Morale is well and good, but being better at killing than the guys you are fighting is pretty important!
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Oct 14, 2020 01:58
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Part XXXVIII: Legatus at last Ganezzar, Meru, blah blah blah.  I don't have time for this. : gently caress off.  Oh no, a bunch of zealots armed with basic gear. How will I survive?  Yeah, eat poo poo.  lol  : I'm a Legatus of the Imperial Guards. Lord Meru is expecting me.   : Dux Gaius Aetius Paullus sent me.    Harsh, but he's right. Off to Al-Akia.     : I'll send one of my men. Geez, fine.   Yes, we can go inside Al-Akia! Nothing's changed from the main playthrough, however.   All we need to do is go to the ritual chamber and then back topside.  Well, poo poo.  Our only real option is to attack. Besides, I don't think Paullus would approve of us running away.  Five Aurelians to deal with, although three are unarmored, as the game said. One's a crossbowman and one's an archer, so prepare for that. Again, you should have at least 8 in your combat skills at this point.  The dinguses are dead, so let's ditch.  Nothing's easy, is it?   Follow those smugglers!  Same hatch that Varro used.   Hope you remembered to heal before this fight! This battle isn't hard, but the enemy likes to inflict Bleed.  Hi Glabrio.   Get outta here with your perfect grammar, Gaius Brutus.     I'm in no shape for another fight, so... : Alright, I'll do it.    Can't we talk this out? No?  Both start off with crossbows, then the one on the left switches to a sword after the first turn.  Barely a scratch on me.   We emerge in Lowtown. Back to Meru.    He goes through the whole spiel of getting Paullus' help, turning the Imperial Guard into Templars, etc. Aaaaand it's back to Caer-Tor.  It's loving nice to see you too, Paullus! : Both towns? : What about Meru? Sure thing, Don Paullus. : Do you trust Gaelius?   : He didn't say, but... That place we went to, it's where they made *gods* in the old days. Meru gets his hands on it, he'll do it all over again.  : He said he would bless us and declare the Imperial Guards the protectors of faith and warriors of the temple. Whatever that means. At this point, we have two choices: Side with House Aurelian, in which case things unfold much like they did in the Merchant timeline, or try to convince Paullus to side with Meru instead. : You're making a mistake. It takes 5 persuasion to succeed. Because I've been skipping sidequests, I had to use the console and add SP.  Now it takes 8 persuasion. If you fail, you're given the choice to go to Teron and ask Carrinas for help, but it's a false one -- he yells at you to get your rear end back to Caer-Tor. : Yes, we're talking about a war here, because *we* are not scared of a war. We *are* war and perhaps Gaelius needs to be reminded whom he's dealing with here.  Woohoo!     Ah, that never stops being satisfying.  Two guys. Yawn.  Cue chasing one around the tent because the enemies have to be as annoying as possible.   Meru gives a big speech in celebration.   Paullus immediately starts swinging his dick around.  Ahahahahahaha! This is such an rear end in a top hat move by Paullus that it becomes awesome.  : My duty. My loyalty is to the Dux and you'll do well to remember that. : I am a Legatus of the Imperial Guards. I have no time for fairy tales.    Only the Thief playthrough is left, and then on to the ending. Next Time: Lying Levir
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Oct 14, 2020 02:54
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Haha! I had no idea Paullus would do that. He's a bit smarter than I took him for. Or he's just trying a big power move, or just plain doesn't want a bigger dick around just in case. Either way, cosmic horror averted because the rear end in a top hat Dux decides to blow up Al Akia, it's wonderful.
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Oct 14, 2020 03:13
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Bit of an own goal by killing Faelun like that Varro. Mercenary is a pawn but he has a title for now. Moving on up in the world! Wow, another update. And we stay Legatus too! Big lol at Paullus inadvertently saving the world by blowing up Al Akia. Being the religious guard and being able to abandon all trappings of former restraints...quite a coup. Hypocrisy fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Oct 14, 2020 |
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Oct 14, 2020 04:25
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Paullus is such a dick, but he's an effective dick.
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Oct 14, 2020 07:57
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Night10194 posted:Haha! I had no idea Paullus would do that. He's a bit smarter than I took him for. On that note... rudecyrus posted:
This suggests something interesting about Paullus' choice to send Carrinas to Teron, given that he almost certainly knew Carrinas' reputation for being a loose cannon.
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Oct 14, 2020 14:38
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Part XXXIX: Hindsight is 20/20 Levir sent us to Ganezzar to get in touch with Glabrio and help the Aurelians topple Meru. The intro unfolds in the same way it did for the Imperial Guard run, so I'm skipping that.  Remember when Levir said Glabrio wouldn't give us any trouble?  Yeah, no. Nothing's easy in The Age of Decadence.   We don't have a choice. You can enter the city and fool around all you want, but eventually you need to accept Glabrio's offer. : I'll stay. What do you want me to do? : Whatever you say, boss.   No. : So in other words, I'm doing all the work and getting paid only twenty points? We split it evenly, fifty-fifty. Ugh, FINE.  : Something else got them? Metal Gear?  : Alright, I'm ready to go.  Before we go anywhere, let's explore.  You can talk to this fence and buy stuff. Aaaaand that's it! Even though there are numerous NPCs down here, you can't interact with them in any way. Shame.  The tunnels are through here.   I know how to disarm a trap, nimrod.  I highly recommend walking, not running, down here, because there are a lot of traps. You also need at least a 7 in lockpicking to open any of the doors.  Let's squeeze through this crack. The chest inside has some blue steel ingots. Through the door...  oh gently caress This fight was not fun at all. I discovered the crossbow I'd been using for this playthrough was a big piece of poo poo. Even with a skill of 8, the scolopendra dodged my bolts more often then not, then closed in and shredded my rear end in only a few attacks. The enemies in this game use thee crossbow like it's a sniper rifle, but it didn't work for me. I probably should've picked a different weapon at the beginning, but no going back now. Ultimately, I resorted to throwing bombs at the drat thing. Death Count: 65  The chest has some sky metal, which is good if you somehow have 10 points in crafting. There's also a dead body with a key in the scolopendra room, something we need to pick up.  Here's the door that requires the key.  These lockboxes contain some nice loot, including alchemy ingredients and throwables.  Ditto for this chest.  Looks like another one of those strange power generators like the one under Inferiae.  When we cross the chamber, this message pops up, and then our health starts draining rapidly. Turns out there's a "magic" leak. Oh, and our HP is lowered permanently. Fun! 8 points in Lore are needed to fix the leak, but since I've neglected that skill we need to find another way.  On the opposite side of the area is another power room. No leak, but the bridge is destroyed.  Let's try the rope.  Yes, I have.  We've got 9 in DEX, so how hard could this be?  gently caress. Death Count: 66 I reload and raise my throwing skill to 4.  please don't fall please don't fall please don't fall  Phew.  An elevator, but we can't use it.  There's the way up to the castle. Somehow I failed to capture the next screen (gently caress you software  ) but we're given a choice to attack, craft a bomb, or return to Glabrio. I choose to craft a bomb. gently caress you! A few points into alchemy later...   Once again, the crossbow fails to live up to its potential. Even though I'm only a few feet away from the guard, I keep missing. Know why? Because the open door is blocking my shots. Seriously, what the gently caress. Death Count: 67  An acid flask and one bomb later, the guard dies. About time.  Back to Glabrio, and I expect a big fat thank you for this.  As always, I get grouchiness instead. : I found a way into the castle.  Faelan again. He's like a cockroach.   If only you knew...  An extra option for characters with high INT. Let's try it.  If your charisma is high enough, you can overcome Faelan's power and fight him like a normal enemy. Unfortunately, we don't have that, so we'll do the nest best thing: Close our eyes!  Swinging wildly won't help us here.  Patience is key.  Attack!  A partial success. Opening our eyes is probably the wrong move, so let's stick to PER checks.  oh god oh god oh god oh god  Victory!  What a shitshow.  : About Faelan...  : Why me? Don't flatter yourself, Glabrio.  Off to Legatus Hagnon.    The choice here is to simply lead the Aurelians through the tunnels, or negotiate with Hagnon and give Glabrio control of Lowtown. Thing is, siding with Glabrio actually lowers your reputation with the Forty Thieves, and Glabrio turns out to be such a lovely leader he loses control and the guild is forced to retreat underground. Besides, I wanna get back at that smug prick. : Let's go.   Achievement gained for double-crossing Glabrio. It's a seven-on-seven fight, but it's easier than it looks. I hung back and hurled bombs while the Aurelians did the heavy lifting. Bombs are super OP.   Eh, no real loss.   Levir rewards us by handing over Lowtown. Finally, we're moving up!  Sensing a pattern yet? Next Time: The final quest
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Oct 14, 2020 21:10
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It is pretty notable that Levir never betrays you or fucks you over if you do what you're meant to do. He's actually a pretty good boss for the Thief. Though I think the Thief storyline is one of the weaker ones. Teron as the Thief is awesome, Maadoran has its moments, but they have the weakest Gannezzer section and Gannezzer is already one of the lower points of the game unless you actually get to go to Al-Akia. I think they just didn't have the time and resources, and there are so many different ways things can be heading when you get there as it is. The Thief is also made a lot harder by actually having to fight occasionally. Similar for the Praetor. An Imperial Guard might have a ton of fighting in their story, but they're built to fight like the Merch is built to Merch, usually. I think the issue with crossbows and ranged weapons in general is similar to the issue with spears. The way they work they're much better for an enemy than they are for the player, despite being a player option. An armor piercing, heavy ranged weapon that will sometimes put serious damage through is great when it's one rear end in a top hat Legionnaire pointing it at you while his buddies melee you and not so useful when you're outnumbered 4-1. Similar with the spear. The interrupt ability is awesome...for the enemy. For a player, the whole 'can't attack adjacent enemies' thing turns into rather a big problem! Nets are similar, though they have more use for the player; you're still spending AP to remove enemy AP, which is a great proposition for the enemy (because the player is outnumbered, a weak enemy putting a net on the player for 1-2 rounds is a great use of their time) and less of one for you even if it's still useful. Also, Dungeon Rats is basically Exhibit A of why absolutely no enemies in AoD use Bombs. Bombs are loving ridiculous, because they can't miss, do wide area damage, knock down characters, etc. Any enemy with bombs in Dungeon Rats is loving miserable to fight because I'm pretty sure their mechanics were designed entirely around giving the player a get out of fight free card and the whole 'no check, just take damage and get knocked over' deal is impossible to balance in trying to turn this combat engine into a strategy RPG.
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Oct 14, 2020 21:25
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Enjoying the rapid updates. Still pretty funny how the Merchant got zilch.
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Oct 14, 2020 23:52
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Does AoD actually go into what Faelan's voodoo actually is
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Oct 15, 2020 01:49
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Nissin Cup Nudist posted:Does AoD actually go into what Faelan's voodoo actually is Nope. He just has some weird magic that kills people when he stares at them.
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Oct 15, 2020 04:34
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Part XL: I made a mistake We're close to the end, with just a few things left to finish. Let's go see Lord Darganus.  Miltiades is here, putting on a show as usual.  Oh god, what did you do?   Anyone get a sudden feeling of dread?   Oh boy. We need to see Pancratius.  Um...  I hope I don't regret this.    You're enjoying this too much, Milty.   To hell with it, we're in this deep already.  Crap.  Darganus is much tougher than he looks. He has this insta-kill move that he likes to haahahahaha I'm kidding. He's a pushover.  After a few turns, a group of zealots burst through the door.  They're no match for us with their base-tier equipment.  I just wanted to show off the fact the power armor glows in the dark. After the fight, we head outside.  Huh?  We can find Miltiades at the tavern in Lowtown.     And that's the end of Miltiades' quests. I know what you're thinking. "That was a hell of an anticlimax." You're right. Know why? I hosed up. Turns out when Darganus asks you to take care of the zealots, you're supposed to kill Pancratius, not Hector. The idea here is Hector is just a violent thug while Pancratius is the real danger because he's a charismatic leader. Thing is, I didn't feel any violent intentions from Pancratius until this part when he surrounds himself with crossbowman. So, I reloaded a save. A much, MUCH earlier save. Just so I could see this quest to its proper conclusion. God drat it. The mission plays out like it did above, except this time we go to Hector to rile up the zealots.  : Hector?   We're going with the middle option. : Because the city will burn if he attacks Lowtown. He doesn't get it but I do. Help me stop him.   Oh yes, we're completely trustworthy.  This time, Miltiades doesn't come in saying the district is overrun and you don't have to fight any zealots.      Miltiades takes up residence in Darganus's house.   Never change, Milty. And that is the real ending to Miltiades' side quests. God drat it. After that poo poo show, I make a stop at the castle.   : I'd like to visit Meru's private library and pray where that great man worked.  Meru had quite the library.   Hmm.   I'm not sure if this info unlocks anything. It's clearly referring to the portal network, but as far as I can tell it doesn't change how they work. I'm just including it here for completeness' sake.  At long last, it's time to find the temple. There are two ways to get there: Hellgate and Dead River. We haven't been to the latter, so let's investigate.    : The evil wind?  I dunno, yes? Let's go with yes. : Yes.    Yes, giant scorpions. They're a massive pain in the rear end.  : There is no other way across?   Everything's a grift in this world.      That's a big loving bridge.  Next to the stone steps is this fellow.    Sounds like something we should check out. : Can I see these machines? : So you maintain these machines?    Sounds terribly boring. Next stop is downstairs.  It's pitch black down here. If you look carefully you can see a bunch of Elders standing in empty rooms. You can't interact with them -- I guess they're busy meditating.  The only light is coming from this room.  Holy gently caress, is this dude from Innsmouth?   : Did anyone make it? I wonder who she was. The old woman in Inferiae?  And these guys engage in child trafficking. Lovely.  : How do you do that?  That's not how you maintain machines!   Please don't touch me.    See, that's how you fix an arcane contraption of unknown origin!  We need the Eye of Thor-Agoth we got from Widowmaker for this next part. If you recall, Feng also gave Gaius Brutus one at the start of his playthrough -- which means Feng had a legitimate artifact. Who'd have thought?   Before we do anything, let's try an alternative route.  A rope is required to climb down into the hollow.  This is just like the fog at the bottom of the Abyss. Let's try the Aegis.  No? How about the respirator?  Oh gently caress, it's worse than the Abyss! The gimmick here is the fog will slowly drain your health as long as you're down here. Our power armor negates that, but there's a bigger problem: there are sixteen giant scorpions in the hollow too. Nine are optional fights, but the rest aren't. The scorpions are like scolopendras, but worse, as they're beefier, hit harder (inflicting poison, natch), and you usually have to fight more than one at a time. There are some skeletons with items, but they're few and far between, and if the flyover shots didn't make it clear, it's a very very long walk. Don't come down here unless you have a ton of healing items and a death wish. gently caress that, I'm overloading the generator.   I hate this place. Next Time: Ia Cthulhu fhtagn
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Oct 15, 2020 16:25
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Huh, I never had any trouble with the Scorpions. But by that point any of my characters who could fight could really fight.
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Oct 15, 2020 16:52
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