|
This dungeon has a few fights that are absolute nightmares on higher difficulties...and, at least in my experience, Hulrun takes the edge off some of the worst ones. That's not to say the Desnans aren't useful, but the room with the dudes around the table, and especially the room with the alchemist has been the bane of many a playthrough. In my current go, Hulrun popped out in the former and basically ended the fight before it could begin, and it was such an insane relief. Those clerics summon swarms! gently caress swarms! That haste buff is also no joke. At this early on, it's unlikely, outside of particular power leveling bullshit, that you're going to be level 6 (in fact, I'm not sure even with power leveling bullshit you can accomplish that). So everyone is packing one attack, and Haste makes that too. That means haste straight up doubles the damage all your mounted melee and archers do, and doubles the damage non-mounted melee does on turns where they don't have to move. I can't imagine doing this bit without it. Also of major import, by now, you've likely bought and found some cold iron arrows for your archer(s), and they turn into very vicious turrets, between ignoring demon damage resist and haste giving them a bonus attack. Special hate out goes to two monsters in particular, whose names I don't instantly remember - the fire demons, and the negative energy demons, who can both do very high levels of AoE damage. The former can be largely controlled with judicious use of resist fire scrolls, but the latter, you frankly just have to kill or control before they can fire their negative energy blast at you. Either way, Grey Garison feels appropriately challenging. The Haste buff encourages you to do it all without resting, and even then, there's a few times where I only just finish as that buff starts to wear off, and it feels pretty heroic by the time you've done it all. You swagger into this room as Mr Big Shot, having cleared the garison at great difficulty...and, very likely, very low on health and resources. The Minhago confrontation is fantastic and you absolutely need to listen to that song to get the full effect. That said...I have to assume difficulty makes a bigger change here. I would've sworn that song doesn't kick in until, uh, later events that we will likely see soon enough. As for the fight we missed, it's an unimaginable slog. It's not that it's super difficult at higher difficulties - it can hurt, certainly, but the enemies very kindly pile in through three or so specific bottlenecks, and a judicious use of control spells will stop most threats. In particular, Nenio should be able to hold three Selective Grease spells, and one in each bottleneck will easily ensure the fight never becomes too much of a risk. No, the real slog is that there's a million friendly NPCs...who never move from their place. so each round has you waiting...and waiting...and WAITING...all so they can each individually pass on their turn. Nightmare. It's also normally your first look at a minotaur! It promptly falls horns over rear end thanks to my grease. Selective spell is hilarious.
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 03:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 7, 2024 04:54 |
|
|
ProfessorCirno posted:This dungeon has a few fights that are absolute nightmares on higher difficulties...and, at least in my experience, Hulrun takes the edge off some of the worst ones. I think you can only get level 6 if you made sure to do Irabeth & Anevia's house along with stuff like the Vraak in the market square. Some nice items at the Tirabade house, also a nasty fight with a Succubus where one of your characters will always be charmed. The Vraak fight also gets you a really nice shield that will carry you for a few levels if you/Seelah are using a shield. Speaking of nice items, the flaming shortsword that you get at the Defender's Heart off of the obnoxious scholar is good and all but it's annoying how it sticks a really good item for unarmed fighters behind a skill check that is extremely difficult to fail. It's mandatory as a monk though as it's functionally an amulet of mighty fists but as gloves and they can also be worn by animal companions for that sweet +1 to hit and damage. edit: So to go back to this as a trip report, it's not possible to reach level 6 before the Grey Garrison. Doing everything on offer only got my character about 6k away from hitting level 6. I skipped a lot of random encounters on the Kenabres map but they aren't worth a ton. Testekill fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Mar 30, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 07:19
|
|
|
Oh yeah, we never went back to kill that Vraak. That fucker's another potential run ender if you don't take it seriously! Sadly, it drops a shield, and shields are useless.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 07:22
|
|
|
You do still miss a bit of exp and loot by skipping the siege, since new enemies pop up in the Market Square after doing it, but it's not a huge amount. Mainly you're just missing the true bonus boss of chapter 1, the Nabasu demon you very briefly saw earlier turning crusaders into ghouls (and likely responsible for Hulrun's weakened state when you first run into him). No reason to do it if you don't want to though, as the misses are mostly just an achievement (if on Core+ difficulty) and an interesting but not super useful item for companions doing natural attacks.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 07:23
|
|
|
The Defender's Heart siege that Cythereal avoided having to play is both excruciatingly slow (on turn-based mode, but it can still be something of a slog in real time as well) and, in my experience, pretty buggy. Every time I've played it, persistent AoE spells like Grease or Create Pit just didn't work. The visual effect would be there but everyone on the battlefield, friend or foe, could just run through it as if it weren't there. Pretty frustrating! Learning that you get just as much experience for skipping it was a relief, let me tell you.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 07:25
|
|
|
Mr. Baps posted:The Defender's Heart siege that Cythereal avoided having to play is both excruciatingly slow (on turn-based mode, but it can still be something of a slog in real time as well) and, in my experience, pretty buggy. Every time I've played it, persistent AoE spells like Grease or Create Pit just didn't work. The visual effect would be there but everyone on the battlefield, friend or foe, could just run through it as if it weren't there. Pretty frustrating! The thing that annoys me most is that progress hinges on killing the arsonists and yet it takes an eternity to spawn in.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 07:31
|
|
|
Gaining the Garrison And now we stand at the climax the first part of both the game and the AP, the assault on the Gray Garrison.  The AP Gray Garrison map. While some of the rooms have been kept for the game, Wrath's fortified citadel is notably more impressive than this watchouse.  The escalation of the Garrison's defences- take to many attempts too take it, and the place could get pretty crowded. The game kind of follows a plot point from the AP; there, your party is expected to assault the Garrison multiple times, with the defences growing with each assault, all while Irabeth, Anevia and the surviving crusaders lead distraction strikes through the city (because everyone can see your PCs are The Protagonists, I suppose)  Basically this. The AP's Garrison is also where Paizo Narrative BS starts raising its ugly head. You see, between their mythic potential, the importance of this place to Iomedae, and that they stand at the crossroads of history, the PCs have the opportunity to perform acts pleasing to her, and regardless of their actual beliefs she will reward them- but only if they're good little boys and girls. How this information is conveyed to the players is the DM's problem; a sufficiently dickish DM might not tell players that they can perform these acts. Thing is, some of these actions can seem counterintuitive, especially if your players are racing against the clock and are concerned for Irabeth and Co., because as far as the PCs know their NPC buddies are fighting and dying out there to buy the party time. As such, doing things like taking a few minutes to perform menial tasks here and there can be missed or passed on because your players are more focused on, you know, being good guys. The most egregiously menial of these Acts of Devotion is taking 30 minutes to clean one of Iomedae's defaced shrines and bury the dead of her faithful, a task which takes around 30 minutes, all while her still-living devoted servants are out bleeding for you.  Pictured: A mythic-level Act of Devotion. Moving on, while the succubus and her seduced crusaders aren't in the AP, the temple with a secret passage to the armoury does exist, with plenty of magical and cold iron weapons, just in case the PCs need the additional help. Othirubo (the alchemist whom Hulrun could have wiped out) and Jeslyn (the key holder) also come from the AP.  Othirubo, presumably while he's telling us that he "will show them! Show them AAAAALLLL!" He's also where you get Irabeth's sword, a +1 evil outsider bane sword, and considering this is the Evil Outsider Carnival AP, it's obvious how useful this sword will be. Othirubo was going to give it to one of the demons' leaders for corruption, but you PCs got to him first, so welp to that plan. Bonus points for Othirubo's death being one of the Acts of Devotion that your players might actually get!   Here's Jeslyn, rocking her take on the pastel goth look. I'm not sure if Wrath changed Jeslyn's gender (Cyth called them a 'guy', and my laptop's resolution is too small to make out for sure); however, in the AP Jeslyn is not just a woman, but the actual main boss of the Garrison; how the mighty have fallen, eh? You see, Minagho had a hand in taking the Garrison, but demons aren't really big on their underlings having personal initiative, and so our eyeless antagonist is off elsewhere handling things while she left a glabrezu in charge of the Garrison's defences. The glabrezu then proceeded to get bored, and told one of his underlings to hold the fort while he went out for milk and cigarettes. And so on and so on and so forth until the completely non-mythic Jeslyn was left here to guard the cornerstone of the demonic army's plans. Depending on how well the PCs have done to this point, it's entirely possible for them to encounter Jeslyn alone. Look, I'm just saying that Hell wouldn't have been this sloppy. Seriously, she's a level 7 oracle against a party of 4-6 PCs who are at level 5-6; odds are that she will be less of a speedbump than Wenduag was, comparitively speaking. There's a little more to talk about, but I think I'll wait for Yua and her party to be undoubtedly have their butts mightily kicked by Minagho again before I go on. After all, she's still a high-level demon against low-level PCs- it'll take a little more than stirring music to beat her... CommissarMega fucked around with this message at 09:46 on Mar 19, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 09:40
|
|
|
CommissarMega posted:I'm not sure if Wrath changed Jeslyn's gender (Cyth called them a 'guy', and my laptop's resolution is too small to make out for sure); The character sheet doesn't say, they have no voiced lines, and I didn't zoom in close enough to see if the model had pixel boobs. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 12:29
|
|
|
I think on my playthrough, I hit Gray Garrison around level 4, which felt pretty good going through it. I'm sure it gets way more challenging on difficulties higher than Normal.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 13:28
|
|
|
I'm trusting that the game will explain the thing Minagho has about Staunton? Like, at this point, I'd expect him to be not useful target to recruit anymore, and should be killed, but she ain't doing that. And I'm guessing it's not just because "I started this job and I'll finish it, drat it!".Cythereal posted:Kelai joins in the coup de grace as well - a horse's default attack is their bite. Cythereal posted:If you allied with Hulrun, he'd kool-aid in through the left wall here, wipe out this enemy group, and leave, presumably making choo choo noises as he goes. CommissarMega posted:Look, I'm just saying that Hell wouldn't have been this sloppy. I said something earlier about a story undercutting their antagonists?
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 17:43
|
|
|
Gun Jam posted:I'm trusting that the game will explain the thing Minagho has about Staunton? Like, at this point, I'd expect him to be not useful target to recruit anymore, and should be killed, but she ain't doing that. And I'm guessing it's not just because "I started this job and I'll finish it, drat it!". Minagho's just a petty, obsessive bitch with a badly skewed sense of priorities. Nothing more complicated than that. She'd be far more dangerous if she focused on the actual task at hand instead of her own personal vendettas and obsessions, and that's entirely par for the course for demons. quote:Does he steals your XP, tho? He does not! Whenever NPCs kill enemies with the party around, you share the xp. quote:I said something earlier about a story undercutting their antagonists? Minagho and the cults stealing defeat from the jaws of victory is why victory is possible at all in this story. They're horrendously powerful, but they're also scatterbrained, divided, and largely going on personal whim rather than a cohesive plan without Deskari or some such there to crack the whip. If they actually worked together coherently, the good guys would lose in this game. They also wouldn't be demons. Chaotic Evil, remember. The whole reason I started doing the 'Intercepted Cultist Letter' bits is because it amuses me to imagine that somewhere out there *is* a cultist with a level head on their shoulders starting to bemoan that they're surrounded by idiots. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Mar 19, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 17:48
|
|
|
There's a joke about the "Inverse Ninja Rule" in here where a few demons (like Minagho and/or Deskari) pulled off something big but a horde of them turns into a farce. But really where one to three nakedly self-interested assholes can be a great danger, that kind of thing doesn't scale up as well when everyone is like that. Normal people can be tricked and convinced into going along with such a person and supporting them while doing all kinds of mental gymnastics to normalize it and the idea that they're contributing to something greater. If it turns into Oops, All Bastards it gets incredibly fractious very fast. They'll do a lot of terrible things before falling apart, but demons as the literal incarnations of this kind of poo poo means that they are, top to bottom, always on the same level of in-fighting that you get in autocratic ruling parties the instant two leaders disagree on the slightest thing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 18:16
|
|
|
Minagho is also making the classic villain mistake of doing her victory dance before she's actually sealed the deal. She's taken for granted that the crusaders are defeated and broken, so she feels free to pursue her own personal obsessions rather than staying on the task of her nominal strategic goal. She's also woefully underestimated and misunderstood quite a few important things going on here, not the least of which is a certain kitsune. "What if Minagho wasn't a petty, narcissistic, overconfident bitch?" is a question that boils down to "Then she wouldn't be Minagho."
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 18:25
|
|
|
To be fair, in Minagho's favor, this should work. She dramatically outlevels everyone around her, last time we faced her she wiped the floor with us, and so far she's batting all home runs when it comes to loving up the Crusade. This method has never failed her before. Her only mistake was not realizing that this is a game, and that we're the protagonists. She should've gone into Trickster.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 18:35
|
|
|
Yeah, for all intents and purposes the demons' plans have generally panned out in both Wrath and the AP- one thing that the PF system makes clear is that anyone with any amount of PC class levels is someone to be reckoned with; IIRC, a level 1 fighter is on par with a sergeant, for example, and level 11 is where you get classical heroes like Hector and King Arthur, with 18-20 being on par with demigods, and that's without mythic levels. As a level 7 oracle, Jeslyn in the AP would have been more than enough to hold the Garrison against all non-PCs left in Kenabres, and in Wrath, Minagho even moreso. To me, the demons' greatest mistake was something that plagues every organization regardless of alignment: they got sloppy from overconfidence. It's just that as demons, they hit that threshold a lot quicker than others.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 18:48
|
|
|
Cythereal posted:Minagho's just a petty, obsessive bitch with a badly skewed sense of priorities. Nothing more complicated than that. She'd be far more dangerous if she focused on the actual task at hand instead of her own personal vendettas and obsessions, and that's entirely par for the course for demons.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 18:49
|
|
|
Minahgo is just trying to finish all her subquests before proceeding to the next plot chapter.Cythereal posted:He does not! Whenever NPCs kill enemies with the party around, you share the xp.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 18:51
|
|
|
JT Jag posted:I don't know if you intend the Cultist information specialist to be any character in particular, but I will say that it's obvious they ain't with Baphomet, whose entire faction seems to pick up the idiot ball and run with it. Maybe a cultist of Abraxis, the demon lord of magic and one of them most known for being capable of actually planning in advance? They work for a Lady. And Im sure that Ladys identity and motivation will be revealed at some point.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 20:23
|
|
|
In a longer-term sense, Minagho - and indeed any demonic army - fundamentally has the problem that she can't rely on subordinates to check her when she starts getting carried away with personal obsessions to the detriment of her nominal strategic goal. The way the demons think, Minagho loving up means opportunities for her subordinates to advance at her expense. Minagho dying just means a job opening. Everyone's happy to ride her coattails right up until the moment that they have more to gain by abandoning her or loving her over. The demons talk an awfully big game, and can throw some murderous punches now and then, but there's a lot of reasons why they haven't punched through the Wardstone network yet or overcome Mendev despite the abject dysfunctionality among the crusaders that we've seen. Wenduag is a textbook example: for all her talk of having transcended her mongrel nature and mastered her rage to make her something new and stronger, she was still just a low-ranking cult flunky at the end of the day.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 00:08
|
|
|
The way I've always thought of it is, the devils are what fascists claim themselves to be, the demons are how they actually are.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 00:15
|
|
|
kvx687 posted:The way I've always thought of it is, the devils are what fascists claim themselves to be, the demons are how they actually are. Nah Devils are straight up super fascists. Demons are just assholes who want to wreck everything for everyone.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 00:32
|
|
|
MonsterEnvy posted:Nah Devils are straight up super fascists. Demons are just assholes who want to wreck everything for everyone. No, kvx had it right. The idea that fascists are super orderly and make things work at great cost is, to be frank, fascist propaganda. They're not "hard men making hard decisions." At the end of the day, they're just another raider/slaving culture with a higher opinion of themselves.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 00:40
|
|
|
MonsterEnvy posted:Nah Devils are straight up super fascists. Demons are just assholes who want to wreck everything for everyone. Demons dont like being controlled and having to submit to authority. Devils have advanced their authority enough that they are often able to use it to their advantage and are thus more patient. Some on the Good side are even willing to work with them- someone has to do the things they cant stomach and remain Good. But theyre still Evil at the end of the day and imo absolutely need to be put down lest they spoil the free happy world. Azatas and Angels are the defenders of that free happy world. Personally Im on their side.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 00:46
|
|
|
My line is that the difference between a devil and a demon is whether or not they give you a justification for doing what they wanted to do anyway.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 01:00
|
|
|
D+D has always had a hard time making the Lawful Evil/Chaotic Evil split work. as pretty ably demonstrated by this game, which tries to tackle the issue, and slides off like a six year old trying to bring down a professional running back
Yeowch!!! My Balls!!! fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Mar 20, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 01:05
|
|
|
Please redact that post. We aren't talking about the late game paths for a long time.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 01:06
|
|
|
There's also one very specific reason why the next fight will end up not that good for Minagho, and it's one she could neither have foreseen nor stopped. So she has some excuses. There's a lot of plot armor going on in that battle, even if it's justified. She should wipe the floor with us.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 02:48
|
|
|
Torrannor posted:There's also one very specific reason why the next fight will end up not that good for Minagho, and it's one she could neither have foreseen nor stopped. So she has some excuses. There's a lot of plot armor going on in that battle, even if it's justified. She should wipe the floor with us. She's messing with a heavenly artifact given to Mendev by Iomedae herself, and she knows that Yua reacted weirdly to it before. If Minagho isn't expecting this thing to have some kind of nasty surprise for her, that's her lookout.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 03:03
|
|
|
Cythereal posted:She's messing with a heavenly artifact given to Mendev by Iomedae herself, and she knows that Yua reacted weirdly to it before. I admit, that's true. But perhaps she felt secure because she really is making progress in corrupting it? I'll have more to say after the fight though, I don't want to spoil your update 
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 03:09
|
|
|
ProfessorCirno posted:No, kvx had it right. The idea that fascists are super orderly and make things work at great cost is, to be frank, fascist propaganda. They're not "hard men making hard decisions." At the end of the day, they're just another raider/slaving culture with a higher opinion of themselves. Not to mention better PR; there's a reason demon cults have to go underground, while the Church of Asmodeus runs a whole nation and is accepted (if coldly) in a whole lot of other places. The forces of Light can talk all they want about truth, justice and the Andoran way, but sometimes you just need a really good lawyer, and where do you go for that?  Seriously, a major adventure point in the Hell's Rebels AP is basically trying to get a meeting with this guy, a Contract Devil, and one encounter session consists of the party having to negotiate a meeting, then wait 3d6 hours in his waiting room. No fights, no puzzles, just the PCs, infernal muzak, and some quite frankly delicious (if unappealing-looking) snacks while you wait (don't worry though, there are toilets if you need to use the loo). So yeah, right as things are heating up in your adventure to liberate a nationstate from the clutches of the most evil nation in Avistan, you need to make an appointment with a lawyer. I friggin' love it  EDIT: Also, that dude up above? If you somehow get him into a fight, he doesn't attack with swords or heavy maces (Asmodeus's favoured weapon). No, instead he attacks with his contracts, doing 4 attacks of 1d4+9 and bleeding damage in what might be the worst papercuts ever
CommissarMega fucked around with this message at 08:01 on Mar 20, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 07:58
|
|
|
Okay but what's the small print on the snacks? If you eat one you get indentured for 10000 years or do they just make you enjoy other foods less? Also as much as we talk about devils being more organized, I'd say you could make an argument devils could also gently caress up like demons here besides "it's a videogame" cause Lawful Evil is still evil. It's just instead of incompetence and disorganization, I think it would involve lots of malicious compliance, secret deals to backstab your way up, maybe even contracting with the crusaders in the hopes of getting future gains and a lot of subcontracting and oops suddenly the Grey Garrison has low to none security cause the devil in charge got another one to do his job for him but that one was planning a betrayal and understaffed the thing and a third one made a deal to tell about a back door in exchange for some souls. Also devils probably don't react well to chaotic poo poo like "we sing you to sleep and bust down the walls Kool-Aid style"* *Disclaimer: I know little about Pathfinder setting besides Owlcat games so I might be wrong and I was putting it in the context of an invasion rather than the canon "yeah we run a country in the mortal plane"
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 10:33
|
|
|
GiantRockFromSpace posted:Okay but what's the small print on the snacks? If you eat one you get indentured for 10000 years or do they just make you enjoy other foods less? The small print on the snacks is that they are not very good quality. The devil saves the good stuff for the paying customers.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 11:34
|
|
|
GiantRockFromSpace posted:*Disclaimer: I know little about Pathfinder setting besides Owlcat games so I might be wrong and I was putting it in the context of an invasion rather than the canon "yeah we run a country in the mortal plane" No worries! Yeah, most of the time devils would face most of the issues that the demons are facing now, it's just that since they have the strictures of Law wrapped around them (you have no idea how much I'm looking forward to loreposting about Hellknights and their orders), these issues are limited and usually less destructive. Among the demons, if Minagho slipped up for a moment her underlings might immediately start literally stabbing her in the back, but a devil might be protected by various laws and rules governing their status and position. This doesn't mean Klingon promotions don't happen among devils, of course, it just means you might have to engage in some legal/technically-legal shenanigans of your own. Devils also understand the value of good PR- again, the Church of Asmodeus has a large degree of acceptance in Avistan. It's a cold and resigned kind of acceptance, but it's there. They run various charitable causes, and in the nation of Isger, the Church runs the orphanages left by the nation's war against invading goblin hordes. In Cheliax (the nation the Church runs), they also allow freedom of religion; as long as it's made clear to all that Asmodeus is in charge with the biggest and most lavish temples, most non-Asmodeans can worship however they like (depending on when the Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance APs take place, worship of Iomedae might be... difficult). And of course, if you need a good lawyer, you just can't beat the upturned pentagram for a billboard. If you like, you can even bring a Paladin onboard to help you select a non-evil lawyer; remember, clerics in Pathfinder can be within a single step of their patron's alignment, which means it's entirely possible to find a Lawful Neutral Asmodean cleric. It's just that their application and interpretation of the law will be a lot colder, a lot more rigid and a damned sight more merciless than most. EDIT: Before I forget: GiantRockFromSpace posted:Okay but what's the small print on the snacks? If you eat one you get indentured for 10000 years or do they just make you enjoy other foods less? The snacks are explicitly described as being the best-tasting and best-smelling food the PCs have ever smelled and tasted, but also magically look like the most disgusting thing they can think of- but that's it, which is surprisingly nice for devils. CommissarMega fucked around with this message at 11:46 on Mar 20, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 11:44
|
|
|
We'll talk about devils when they come up in the game y'all. Chill. This is not a Pathfinder general lore chat thread, and at the end of the day Minagho can be beaten because she's a bad guy in a video game and that is what video game bad guys exist for.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 12:16
|
|
|
Unless you are the bad guy yourself in this videogame, of course. Then you can win.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 15:28
|
|
|
Kanthulhu posted:Unless you are the bad guy yourself in this videogame, of course. Then you can win. Are you really winning if you eat kittens, though? And I apologize for the derail, was just thinking about the different ways Evil screws up in games. So instead now let's just wait to see how badly Minagho screws up next update 
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 16:33
|
|
|
Kanthulhu posted:Unless you are the bad guy yourself in this videogame, of course. Then you can win. "And so the evil overlord defeated the other evil overlord, and the land rejoiced!" I think about that line a lot in so many modern games.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 16:35
|
|
|
From Beyond If you didn't listen to Mythic Power before, do so now.   (Hearken unto the light warriors' words.)Now for the truth about the Wardstones.  (Look on the angels with the aeon's eyes)Every Wardstone is a tomb of angels, holding the corruption of the Worldwound at bay. Deskari's blow has driven many within to madness, and the aeon and its purple knife gave Yua the perfect means to excise the blight. But what does the aeon think?  (Hearken unto the red warriors' words.)To the aeon, the angels don't belong here in the mortal world any more than the demons do. In the clockwork design of the universe that aeons strive to repair and uphold, each plane's denizens should stay on the plane meant for them. The Worldwound is a violation of the order that aeons serve, but so is the Wardstone. Both are incursions of foreign planes and entities where they don't belong, and both must be set right.  While many, even most, of the angels serve gladly and endure their pain in good conscience, they do have free will and experience the passage of time in this stony prison. Death need not be something to fear. For some, death is a welcome release.  The choice is Yua's. She could destroy the Wardstone. She could destroy the fallen angels. She could try to heal and redeem the fallen angels. She could excise all the angels from the stone and return them to the plane appropriate to them. Or she could unleash her simmering demonic rage. These are, in order, the Angel of Judgment, the Angel of Mercy, the Aeon, and the Demon options. Azata and Trickster, while unlocked, have no part to play in this dilemma. While it's impossible to lose access to the Angel or Demon routes, you must take the Aeon choice here to be able to pursue the Aeon mythic path. Pick any other choice here and the aeon will leave in disgust with your actions. With no Azata option available, I choose the Angel of Mercy choice for Yua. (Quell the anger of the red warriors by offering them peace) And so the aeon departs, leaving Yua unable to follow that path that she did in another time. For now, the threat to the Wardstones has ended. For now.  But not before revealing a glimpse of Yua's past, on the day she arrived in Kenabres. Dialogue I haven't shown, with various party members, confirms that the PC has only a vague memory of being outside the walls of Kenabres when they were attacked by demons. Later dialogue will confirm that this scene here is a vision being granted to the PC.  Yua is on a stretcher, surrounded by demons and the winged woman we saw earlier. I'll tell you now: this is Areelu Voresh, the woman who created the Worldwound. It's not hard to figure out given that she's all over the cover of the game and promotional media.  Yua was not attacked by a random handful of demons that slipped past the defenses.  Yua was attacked by the Architect of the Worldwound herself.   And brought to the market square during the festival by Voresh and her elite, disguised as common crusaders.  Back in the Gray Garrison, the whole citadel is shaking.  Light flows into Yua, then explodes outward.  (The Wardstone's energy suffuses you, then flows through you and into your allies) "All my aches and pains... For the first time ever, they're gone..." "What is happening... Help us, Iomedae!" "Oh, what is it? It tickles!" "Woah what the ah!" "What curious sensations. I feel myself being inflated with power, like a balloon. Oh, how unscientific of me. I must investigate this phenomenon further." Half my career as a bard after this war was spent trying to capture in words and music just what that moment felt like. Nenio, of those present, was the least helpful.  "Look, you're already wounded! Pathetic mortal, I'll have no trouble finishing you off now!" (Looking down, you notice that the wound on your chest has opened up again and is bleeding as if you were hit by a sword. But... there is no pain! All you feel is power filling you. Right before your eyes, the edges of the wound start to join and heal until it closes fully. Minagho's face twists in frustration.) "You'll die anyway!" (The demoness looks formidable with her entourage around her, but her threats ring hollow to you now. You look at her and feel like a titan looking at an ant. Overwhelming, all-conquering power fills you. What, that little demoness? Those irritating hordes of the Abyss? The gods themselves are your only equals now.) [Good] "Crusaders never surrender! I will vanquish evil!" "In Iomedae's name, we will cast you back into the Abyss!" "What are you babbling about? You can't possibly still have any hope of victory, you doomed little cockroach! Your pathetic crusades are the laughing stock of the Abyss!"This scene does play out differently based on what you chose to do, but I'll note this now: Minagho is wrong. This is not Iomedae intervening. There's more at work here than Minagho understands. If you commit to the Angel path and worship Iomedae, you're told, in rather more words, that Iomedae just isn't this subtle when she intervenes.  "Your goddess sent you to die. You think that's a victory? All you've done is postponed the deaths of all the other mortals... and not even for very long. But your wait for death is over! You won't see what I'm going to do to your little friends, because I'm going to kill you right now."This, ultimately, is why Minagho fails: she doesn't understand what's going on, because she thinks she already knows what's going on. She does not appreciate that the rules and players have changed rather significantly.  She hasn't changed at all since the last time Yua fought her.  The same is not true of Yua. (this buff is sadly only in effect for this fight)  This is not a boss fight. This is an execution. When Minagho falls under half health or you kill all her flunkies, the battle ends.   "Minagho, to me!" "Staunton! My darling, I knew you'd come back for me!" "Shut it. Get over here, now. Get behind me." (The dwarf turns his hard eyes on you.) "If you want to finish her off, you'll have to step over my dead body first. Killing me won't be a challenge, I know, but I can last long enough to give her time to escape." "Staunton, don't do this!" "Don't do it? And why not?" "What did she promise for your betrayal - Drezen? Surely you know that's a lie?" "She's already given me a lot more than all you crusaders ever did. Compassion. Understanding. Kind words. So what if it's a lie? I want to believe her lies. I've had it up to here with yours! Your lies about forgiveness and redemption!"Please ignore all the people who actually have shown Staunton compassion and understanding, like Joran, Irabeth, Anevia, Seelah, the Storyteller, and even Yua herself. Because they aren't the ones whose understanding and forgiveness Staunton actually wants.  "I know, girl. But it's too late for me to learn any different. When I die, pour one out for the old fool." [Good] "You still have a chance to redeem yourself!" "Staunton, it's the truth! The crusaders of Kenabres have treated you like dirt, but we would never do that to you. We are your friends." "Shut up!" (Staunton clenches his fists.) "I've been listening to fairy tales about redemption for seventy years! Enough! Not another word! Enough talking. Minagho, cast your spells and get out of here. I'll hold her off. Quickly, before I change my mind!" "No, my sweet, I won't abandon you. We'll leave this place together. And we'll go where we can be happy!" "Go. Let me finally..." (Staunton clenches his teeth, swallowing the rest of his words. Panting, he looks between Minagho and you, and back again. At last, the dwarf nods.) "drat it all! Let's go!" (The demon and the traitor vanish in a magical haze. You feel the energy thrumming through your body and soul start to fade. It doesn't leave you, it hides somewhere deep down, leaving behind a small amount of incredible energy as well as the understanding that you will one day master that inconceivably huge power.) There would be a reckoning for this. A reckoning that came sooner than Minagho would have liked, I'm sure. Staunton, however... Folks, as the M marker on the party's portraits hints, poo poo has gotten real.  Yua has unlocked her first mythic level, a secondary progression system that represents Yua's maturing powers that go beyond mortal limits and flow into her allies. Mythic levels are awarded by plot events, not experience, and you can see what mythic paths Yua has presently unlocked. Because Yua didn't excise the Wardstone, Aeon is forever locked off but Angel, Demon, Azata, and Trickster are waiting. At present, however, Yua's power is too weak to truly awaken these other sources of power, and so for now she will progress as a mythic hero.  The first, and permanent, choice to make is where your mythic powers come from or are aligned to. There are six options, each themed to one of the mythic paths you can unlock by the big decision point. Your choice here has no bearing on the mythic paths you can unlock or commit to. Want to be an Aeon drawing on the power of chaos? Go right ahead! For thematic role-playing purposes, I'm choosing Instrument of Freedom for Yua. It's the Azata themed option, though it's widely considered the weakest of the six from a power gaming perspective. Yua can now unleash bolts of celestial lightning to harm foes or empower allies.  Yua also gets her first mythic ability, which are like features or class perks, and for her I select Master Shapeshifter. Now, this might strike you as very odd: bards don't do much if any shapeshifting. But remember, Yua is a kitsune. A native shapeshifter.  A kitsune shifting into human form does indeed count for Master Shapeshifter! Yua will now default to her human form throughout the game. This is, in fact, one of the major reasons from a mechanical perspective why you'd consider kitsune as a PC choice in the first place. Any physical build would be hard-pressed to go wrong with a kitsune thanks to Master Shapeshifter.  Seelah picks up Master Cavalry, letting her ignore movement-based attacks of opportunity while mounted so she can commence the charging straight to the back ranks without getting a spear in the flank.  Nenio gains Abundant Casting, greatly increasing the number of spells she can throw around.  Ember really should get Abundant Casting - every caster should - but for the sake of being different I give her Inspirational Leader, a useful aura.  Lann gets Cleaving Shot, turning weak enemies into walking bombs.  And Woljiff learns Ever Ready, which makes him a major tripping and stabbing hazard for enemies.  Back at Defender's Heart, the party is underway.   "I did consider it, and I am still considering it. It hasn't even been a week since the last demon was booted out of Kenabres. And we really should be in a period of mourning for all the city's fallen." (Irabeth sighs.) "But the people deserve to celebrate, and Yua deserves to be honored. For saving the city, and possibly all of Mendev..." "We did it together, all of us." "But someone did more than the rest of us. Don't deny your achievements, Yua there'll always be plenty of miserable folk only too happy to tear you down!" "According to the watch reports, there has been no demon activity whatsoever outside Kenabres. I get the feeling the fiends are as shocked by what happened as we are." (Irabeth rubs her forehead pensively.) "What happened in the Garrison... what you did... it was a miracle. I truly believe that the gods remembered us and decided to intervene." "Beth! Come on, you agreed no serious business today!" "All right, all right, I'm done, no more. Ha, who would have thought we'd be celebrating a successful attack on the Gray Garrison, our own fortress! And that we'd blow the roof off the place..." "It's simply unforgiveable!" (comes the cheerful voice of someone sitting at the far corner of the table.) Not even Hulrun got on anyone's case about that little whoopsie with the Garrison's roof. He'd been fighting some really nasty demon we'd missed in the Market Square and said that one moment he was spilling demon innards out, the next the whole city felt like the light of heaven had felt. "Drop it, Anevia. I'm not a messenger sent by the gods." "People who aren't divine messengers don't usually go around taking whole stories off of buildings and blowing packs of demons away! But, if that's how you want to play it, then fine. I'm still keeping my stone though..." "Nevi!" (Irabeth mutters.) "What are you on about now?" "What do you mean? Do you see many people at this table who've been personally blessed by Iomedae herself?" "Well, a couple, perhaps..." (says the same mirthful voice that joined in before.) "Iomedae's blessings are not conveyed through stones, and as public officials, we really shouldn't..." (Irabeth looks to the end of the table where the voice originated, and her eyes widen as her words trail off.) Now, if they'd suggested I was blessed by Desna, I might have sung a different song. I couldn't get that vision of Elysium out of my mind, ever since we sang in the temple. I'd never been particularly fervent before, but... Some things change a woman. "Y-Your Majesty!" "Yes, it is I. I made the journey here to deduct the cost of repairing the garrison roof from your salary." (The woman rises from her seat, approaches you, and holds out her hand.) "We have not been introduced. Galfrey of Mendev." (Shake her hand) "I didn't expect to see the queen at our table!" (The queen smiles.) "I was most keen to see the savior of Kenabres with my own eyes. Why not come share your table in a cozy tavern?) (Irabeth, finally recovering from the shock, bolts to her feet.) "Your Majesty! We were just... I'll have them arrange..." "Calm yourself, Commander. I deliberately came here without any fanfare because I did not wish to draw attention away from our honored heroine here. My personal guard and the force I brought with me are standing watch outside the city. I ordered all of your sentries to stand down they also deserve a break. Every person who tirelessly fought to save Kenabres will enjoy themselves today, and my reinforcements will ensure peace and order." "Will you join in our celebration, your Majesty?" (The Queen laughs.) "Please, don't 'Your Majesty' me. We are in a tavern, not my court in Nerosyan. Address me as you would any comrade-in-arms. Concerning the celebration, as you can see, I already invited myself. I couldn't pass up the chance to meet the new heroine all the crusaders are talking about. And soon, not just crusaders." "In that case... We all need to get some rest."Galfrey is another character I'm going to analyze in more detail later. She doesn't have many fans among Wrath's player base, for reasons that won't become evident for a long time, but I happen to be one of those few who does like her a lot. She's even a bisexual romance option (who is quite explicitly into women at that, she almost married a woman in the past that she can end up telling you about), but I will not be pursuing that for a number of reasons I'll get into when I give her a proper analysis.   "Your Majesty, my dear cousin..." "Count. I admit I was surprised to learn that you valiantly joined the ranks of the city's defenders. Pleasantly surprised." "I live to please you, my queen. My first thought, when Deskari cruelly robbed us of noble Terendelev and half of Kenabres's crusaders in one fell swoop, was of you, my queen, and of how these events would weigh heavily on you. No one could have foreseen the demon attack. And we have so successfully held the defense here for four heroic crusades." "I'm going to drown him in the nearest well," (Irabeth mutters.) "This very night." "I value your dedication. And your eloquence." (The queen gives him a genuine smile.) "I hope you will continue to aid our soldiers." "Not a chance. You know that I am not made for the front lines. Yua, excellent bash, but alas, I really must go, important matters to be getting on with. A new shipment of wine from Kyonin and three beautiful creatures of the same provenance. But I will most assuredly come to say my farewells before your army departs on its campaign, which, wherever it may lead you, will undoubtedly be crowned with victory!" "I shall hold you to that, Count. And now allow me to devote some time to the heroine of the evening. I did not come here solely to give you this chance to celebrate, but all serious discussions and official announcements can wait until tomorrow. I have big, big plans for all of you..." (The queen smiles archly.) "Especially for you, Yua. But I want to keep you in suspense for a little while longer, so I shan't say another word. Let us mark this victory. My first toast is to you, the heroine of Kenabres! Now, what are we drinking?"And with that, Act 1 of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous comes to a close! The Crimson Path This update: Babau 3 Brimoraks 2 Schirs 2 Act 1 Totals Abrikandilu 20 Babau 6 Bandits 16 Brimoraks 4 Cambions 23 Charmed Crusaders 3 Cultists 51 Dretches 23 Ghouls 11 Giant Centipedes 3 Giant Flies 7 Giant Spiders 19 Mimics 2 Minotaurs 2 Rat Swarms 3 Schirs 18 Shadows 2 Shadow Demon 1 Succubi 2 Vermleks 9 Wights 3 Zombies 11 Total 239
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2024 01:40
|
|
|
And so a Hero steps into Legend... Out of curiosity, with your Crimson Path counts, will you be marking unique named enemies by name, or by their type?
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2024 01:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 7, 2024 04:54 |
|
|
berryjon posted:or by their type? I'm counting them by their type. I may make special exceptions for someone truly special in what they are.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2024 01:59
|
|