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Once you see Devil's Carnival a few times, you'll remember it forever! I mean, I still do from when I first played the game years ago. But I agree that the flavor is really cool. I mean, 16 possible outcomes from one encounter is some replay value.
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Nov 9, 2021 18:01
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I thought you said in an early video it's always worth going to a shop, even if it's just to reveal new equipment cards or something? Which means it would be worth it to enter them even if you have zero gold. But you just skipped them this round. What am I misunderstanding?
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Nov 9, 2021 22:53
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You're not misunderstanding, I'm being inconsistent and I didn't notice! Thanks for catching that. I really do think that if you have new equipment, it's great to visit the shops when you can. Identifying stuff makes it easier to pick cards for harder story dungeons. However, I forgot how tedious I find all the shop animations all the time, especially when I have no gold and I thought it wouldn't be very entertaining, something I understood a lot better after the LP started. So yeah, I could've been better. I'll add some notes in my post.
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Nov 10, 2021 01:11
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At least the Goblin King's Hall section heals you after each run through. Speed definitely feels key to the game, and I started dreading seeing hammers the later I got.
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Nov 10, 2021 02:30
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Carbon dioxide posted:But you just skipped them this round. What am I misunderstanding? It's worth doing so but I'm guessing 1) OP is doing an LP so he doesn't do the spergy optimal poo poo you would do if you were playing by yourself 2) Going into shops with 0 gold is super depressing so he just skips
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Nov 10, 2021 03:00
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I fixed the audio in past videos that were affected, and I scored some higher-quality sources for the post images. It's making my life much easier! Next video will go up later today.
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Nov 11, 2021 15:05
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This video's a bit longer, so grab a cup of tea. Part 8 - Endless Mode, second run (YouTube) aka MISTER LIONEL!!!!  part 2Holy Forge is a card that I've never personally completed. For some reason, I either always encountered it before Metal Ore, or I died in the run before reaching the forge. You have to visit the Metal Ore card first, then visit the Holy Forge. I think it's just bad luck on my part. You can still think of this pair as breather cards, though, since you're in no danger when you encounter them. They also synergize extremely well with the Iron Hunger fate, as they are a use or source of the Ore resource the fate enables. Traps on combat maps can be deadly, so why not use them to your advantage? The maps—and enemy pathfinding—can be fairly simple, so when there's any opportunity to herd or trap enemies, they'll pick themselves off for you. The downside is that when enemies are right in front of you, you don't necessarily feel like exploring in case you get trapped. A note about Explorer's Gift: I had no idea Explorer's Gift let you heal when visiting previously-seen encounters with no food. I'm guessing that when you move onto visited cards, the game engine first checks either your food count or Explorer's Gift being the active Fate to determine whether to modify your health. It's a fantastic bug! Not gonna lie, part of me wants to do future Endless Mode runs like this on my own. The Dragon Relics are a full set of equipment that are unlocked by a later quest line of which we haven't even obtained the first encounter. The quest line is long and can only be completed over multiple runs. If anything is a postgame set of equipment, this is it. In other words, that Dragon Ring is just there to taunt you and keep you searching. For us, it's mostly a paperweight. Anaxite fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Jan 4, 2022 |
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Nov 11, 2021 19:43
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I hate the card minigame. AFAIK, there is no way to follow the cards unless they end up on top (I'm pretty sure they can move back during the shuffle), but I always feel like it's my fault when I fail. It's a con, so I guess that's realistic, but still
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Nov 12, 2021 08:42
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Holy poo poo, well done. You got some real PITA tokens out of the way there! Feathered Ice is my artifact of choice. It deals good damage but most importantly its freezing effect works on all enemies, including bosses. It was so good that it became the ultimate reward for a DLC quest chain in the sequel. Deadly Traps is a freebie for me, though it does mean you have to carefully avoid traps in the arena. You got screwed because you got a really tight, trap-filled arena. Anytime you have over 100 gold you have a chance to be ambushed at shops. I wanna say the chance increases as you gain gold further but don't quote me on that. Want me to spoil how to tell apart the chest from the mimic? Anaxite posted:A note about Explorer's Gift: I had no idea Explorer's Gift let you heal when visiting previously-seen encounters with no food. I'm guessing that when you move onto visited cards, the game engine first checks either your food count or Explorer's Gift being the active Fate to determine whether to modify your health. It's a fantastic bug! Not gonna lie, part of me wants to do future Endless Mode runs like this on my own. Yeah, you can do some silly poo poo with Explorer's Gift, like get tons of gold from Stranger in the Shadows or heal up before a boss. Anaxite posted:Holy Forge is a card that I've never personally completed. For some reason I either always encountered it before Metal Ore, or I died in the run before reaching the forge. You have to visit the Metal Ore card first, then visit the Holy Forge. I think it's just bad luck on my part. You can still think of this pair as breather cards, though, since you're in no danger when you encounter them. They also synergize extremely well with the Iron Hunger fate, as they are a use or source of the Ore resource the fate enables. Sadly I don't have tips on this one, you just have to get lucky. This kind of lock-and-key event is always the biggest PITA Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Nov 12, 2021 |
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Nov 12, 2021 19:12
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Seraphic Neoman posted:Fun stuff Go ahead with the mimic stuff! I know some things, but it's be good to get confirmation. And I always like hearing more stuff about the game. And yeah, you're absolutely right I got lucky. It's nice that things are going my way as I'm trying to show off things for the LP, though it doesn't always work out. I find it interesting that chance events seem to get a bit easier as one plays the game, if only because you can track that top card. I noticed it in the past, I'm noticing in these playthroughs. Fat Samurai is right: it's all a con, in a way... Still, there's at least the tiniest bit of skill that makes you feel like you can alter the outcomes in your favor. maybe that's what keeps you coming back for more. Anaxite fucked around with this message at 22:25 on Nov 12, 2021 |
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Nov 12, 2021 22:17
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When you get to the Treasure Chest, if it has a lock on it in the picture, it's a real chest. If it doesn't, it's a mimic. I did actually get the entire Dragon set, ring included, twice in my playthroughs, but they were both in Endless. Most runs are over before you have the chance to collect all the pieces. It's indeed extremely powerful, but the set takes EVERY equipment slot, including your artifact slot. it's not too much of a loss, you'd end up using most of those pieces anyway, but it can be annoying if you have a helmet, gloves or artifact that has a lot of utility. The real catch is that to even start that loving quest you need to beat a very late game boss and it takes a minimum of 8 runs to clear the chain.
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Nov 12, 2021 22:38
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I really love the tokens in this game, there's something very pleasurable about accumulating them all and then watching them explode into cards at the end of the run.
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Nov 13, 2021 00:10
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That's one of the game's strengths yeah, it's a very satisfyingly tactile experience, more akin to a board game than anything else.
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Nov 13, 2021 11:57
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Someone should make a physical card game out of this. I haven't figured out how to handle the battle and dungeon sections IRL yet though. 
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Nov 13, 2021 13:26
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There was a Kickstarter campaign for a 1-4 player board game called Hand of Fate: Ordeals, set between the events of Hand of Fate 1 and 2. The company behind it folded in 2019, but you can still find the game on eBay or other sites.
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Nov 13, 2021 14:31
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 Part 9 - Queen of Skulls (YouTube) The dungeon is set up to try to lure you in with all those sweet, sweet item deals… only to curse you until you're just too hobbled. It's a trap! The Nomad fate is unintentionally appropriate, as that fate teaches you to make the best use of whatever you get. Dark Dwellers are annoying, but there are a few artifacts that can make you bypass the encounter. Spirit Walk is one of them—kinda obvious when I think about it—and so you could stack the deck and try to go for it… or just try your luck and live with the pain cards. The Nomad's Desert encounters have something to their solution, but I'm going to hold off on officially mentioning it until we complete the fate. The Queen of Skulls Few necromancers possess the skill or courage to attempt the creation of such a creature—any misstep during the ceremony could result in a hideously painful death. The Queen is not too difficult, really. Her main attacks are ranged and unblockable: she will use either her rifle/musket or a grenade. Both are easy to dodge, so focus your attacks on the totem that will continuously spawn new skeletons. Once you get close to her, she has an unblockable melee attack that is easy to dodge as well. Anaxite fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Jan 4, 2022 |
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Nov 14, 2021 20:20
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I actually had no idea you could use artifacts to bypass Dark Dweller. Funny enough I found I usually never had the gold to take advantage of this dungeon's gimmick. Though yeah, it's a huge trap because curses in this game are goddamn brutal.
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Nov 15, 2021 23:52
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Seraphic Neoman posted:I actually had no idea you could use artifacts to bypass Dark Dweller. It's both kinda wild that there are cards to bypass encounters at all, and it also makes sense. I say it's kinda wild because I almost never got to see those interactions before the LP. You need to be in the right place at the right time, so without playing a whole lot, you might never see them happen! And yet, someone will have come across the interactions in their playthrough and it will make their experience all the more worth it. It's touches like these that shows the care the devs put care into the game. For Dark Dweller specifically, these three artefacts will work if equipped:
The Angry Mob you first see in the Jack of Plague dungeon also can be avoided with three equipped items:
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Nov 16, 2021 13:26
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Anaxite posted:Here they send you back a space but also deactivate the encounter. The implications of you using ice on peasants is a bit disturbing though. It really shows you what kind of person our hero is - that and bits of the dealer's narration. Don't forget the stairs quote where the Dealer says our 'hero' doesn't have the temperament for friends - even animal friends.
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Nov 16, 2021 17:21
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A lot of the alt choices also show that we're quite the violent thug. Like the alternative towards asking the maiden for a lock of her hair is to take a swing at it with your weapon, despite the fact that she was nothing but polite and helpful up to this point. Also yeah wow gently caress that Fate's event chain. What the hell was that. How are you supposed to figure that out?
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Nov 16, 2021 18:30
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I want to make a list of all the horrible things our "hero" did in his life and put it in the OP or something.Seraphic Neoman posted:Also yeah wow gently caress that Fate's event chain. What the hell was that. How are you supposed to figure that out? I have words later, but if I somehow wanted to do the Nomad encounters legit for fun, I'd be banging my head against a wall right around now. If you assume a failed path ends the encounter, that's still 20 possible combinations, and you have no idea whether or not the solution could change between runs. And if you don't write down the solution your work could be for nothing! I get the Fates are optional but jeez.
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Nov 16, 2021 23:48
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 Part 10 - Queen of Plague (YouTube) I hate Cursed Gamblers. I hate curses. I hate the idea of losing equipment when I can only carry one at a time. If you're not a Nomad and you hoard equipment and money, the Cursed Gamblers may be less of a challenge? I think they'll suck no matter what you do. Otherwise, the run was lucky in quite a few areas. We got the right kinds of weapons at exactly the right times, we did amass some gold, and the icing on top of the cake was the Self Righteous blessing. Rat Cleaver was very nice, but that's why I made sure it was in the equipment deck! Aside from the… uh… spectacle that was the fight with the Queen, this dungeon further showcases that you can work around the encounters you have if you prepare ahead of time. Almost all combat is, to some degree, manageable. Chance events are still a matter of chance, but you can follow cards around to a limited degree. And if you fail a dungeon, you can try again with a bit more understanding of what it takes. help the game is breaking around me The Lich The Lich seems like a menacing enemy, but you'll fight it in an arena where you can put a sarcophagus between the two of you. Do that, take out the skeletons, and then just make sure to dodge or reflect the Lich's attack. If you're confident enough to dodge roll into the Lich just as it reforms, you can get more hits in. Keep at it until it dies. If you do get hit by all its ranged attacks, that'll start hurting a lot more. The Queen of Plague The Ratman Queen can birth thousands of her foul kind, protecting them with her prodigious spear skills. The Queen of Plague has one primary attack in two parts: the energy attack will draw you towards her if you get hit, afterwards she will try to swipe at you with her claws, though that can be countered. This seems trivial, but losing your mobility is a great way to get overwhelmed, especially if she stays near her unblockable totem. In fact, the totem is the real problem of this fight. If you don't deal with it rapidly, it will bring in a lot of hurt. I suggest staying far away from the Queen and her Totem to pick off her entourage first. After that, you can take out the totem while dodging her, preferably when she's lured away. Without any kind of backup, the Queen isn't much of a threat. Anaxite fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Jan 4, 2022 |
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Nov 17, 2021 18:44
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I guess if the encounter combo doesn't change then the final reward card for the fate is actually a pretty solid contender for a deck, 3 gain cards is p huge. But I am not a fan of this fate so far. The lich also self-destructs as it dies as a final gently caress you. It loving owns when that happens and it knocks you into a trap 10/10 A+++ would fight again
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Nov 18, 2021 02:06
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That run went pretty much perfectly, a lot of encounters went pretty well, especially getting lucky with the Minotaur. How much do you intend to show off in postgame dungeon crawling?
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Nov 18, 2021 03:47
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After watching this video I can say somewhat unironically that this game is about dealing with the hand that fate deals you, it's honestly perfect in that regard. Also, is there a trick to figuring which card to pick? Every time I try to guess the correct answer it's mostly the wrong choices.
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Nov 18, 2021 05:46
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Tombot posted:After watching this video I can say somewhat unironically that this game is about dealing with the hand that fate deals you, it's honestly perfect in that regard. Also, is there a trick to figuring which card to pick? Every time I try to guess the correct answer it's mostly the wrong choices. The chance cards are not randomized, and their positions are tracked in 3D space. If you are careful you can have a decent shot at figuring out where each card went.
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Nov 18, 2021 08:20
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Jossar posted:That run went pretty much perfectly, a lot of encounters went pretty well, especially getting lucky with the Minotaur. How much do you intend to show off in postgame dungeon crawling? My runs are turning out better than I expected. For better or for worse the LP has been good practice.  Based on how the recordings are going I have a few things I want to try for:
Anything you wanted to see? Tombot posted:After watching this video I can say somewhat unironically that this game is about dealing with the hand that fate deals you, it's honestly perfect in that regard. Also, is there a trick to figuring which card to pick? Every time I try to guess the correct answer it's mostly the wrong choices. Building on what Quackles said, there is some skill in picking the right chance card. Once you know the cards move fairly you can start tracking what's on top, and maybe start unconsciously tracking the rest to some extent. Which, sometimes, is not at all. Making the cards move around like they're actual cards was definitely a great decision!
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Nov 18, 2021 11:33
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Anaxite posted:[*]Maybe getting the Dragon Relics This is the LPer Suffering option btw.
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Nov 18, 2021 18:59
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What, not finishing the Iron Hunger fate? 
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Nov 18, 2021 19:50
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Okay, so. Our adventurer started out with normal adventuring life, traveling through the woods, finding simple equipment, going after simple bandits, speaking with Elves... and all the while his life got more and more complicated until he started making some questionable decisions. While we cannot deny that he has done some good in the world, our adventurer has made some strange or horrific choices, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or was just not the smartest of people. Here is a small list of things that might be weighing on his mind: So far, the adventurer...
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Nov 18, 2021 20:00
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Anaxite posted:So far, the adventurer... Don’t forget that at the end (?) of his life, he found his way here, to play the Game of Life and Death. But what does he hope to win?
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Nov 18, 2021 20:10
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Have I mentioned how much I love the Hag's Wraps? Part 11 - King of Skulls (YouTube) Mass Achievement unlock time! The game has quite a few achievements, but I hit some accomplishment-based achievement conditions during this run, so it's good to show them off. Curses have been much somewhat of a nuisance, but the King of Skulls' dungeon ups the ante. The Hanged Man encounters can overwhelm you if you get some particularly nasty curses. I would have loved to remove Corrupted Soul if I had the opportunity. And as much as I talked up stacking the deck, I got slapped by the RNG gods by making slightly inferior equipment/gold decisions; I thought there would be more maces to grab. Oh well. The Rat Cleaver was a decent consolation prize thanks to its damage output and speed. About the Nomad's Desert:The solution to every encounter is to go SEESS. I don't get the decision behind making this Fate's special encounters this way. Maybe the solution is a reference to how the player sees the path forward, but I have no idea how you would figure it out. Were the developers hoping you would try and try again until you found the right solution? Please tell me if you actually know. Like the Soldier's Training Fate, the encounter card we unlock is identical to the previous Nomad's Desert cards. Get through it in the same conditions, receive gold and equipment. Mages A special Suit. They have a force shield, and can attack in one of two ways: a burst of multiple homing projectiles (that can usually be partly reflected), and a "triple line" attack that will damage you if you cross them. As mentioned in the video, having multiple mages on the field is a liability: they will line themselves up as the points of a triangle when doing their line attack, which makes the pattern more elaborate and thus more dangerous. Two mages is pretty bad, but three mages makes the full pattern. The saving grace is that they are locked in place during said attack. Lava Golems Another special Suit. Their attack patterns are extremely predictable and thus not too hard to dodge if you pay attention. Bear in mind their swings will track you somewhat, and don't get overwhelmed when they're in groups. Multiple lava golems can be overwhelming. Minotaurs Yet another special Suit. This one's a first for me, too! The minotaur will either charge at you if you're far enough away, or do a four-combo attack. You can't block anything it does, so stay close and do chip damage in between combo strikes. Thankfully, special Suits never get upgrades, so the combat will remain the same. The King of Skulls The most fearsome undead warrior ever seen. He carries on one arm, a shield that would crush most men and the other, wields a two handed sword with deadly ease. The king has a few attacks. He's got an unblockable swing, he can summon extra skeletons that will stick around a while, and he has a burst as well. His most devastating attack fires a beam from his shield, so you may want to stay behind him and let the beam damage his allies. Unfortunately the shield that unlocks from defeating him does not get the beam. I remember this boss as being a bit more memorable, but he's not too difficult to deal with. The main thing to remember about Kings is that their specialties are designed to make you want to focus on them. They are the King, after all.
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Nov 20, 2021 18:43
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Prob the most notable thing about the King of Skulls is that he looks cool and drops some of the best boss gear in the game imo. All three pieces of equipment are excellent. And jesus this really makes you take a long time to unlock Maze of Traps. That card was one of the ones I put in and never took out along with The Maiden, Mr. Lionel and a few others. Lava Golems are annoying to fight. The Minotaur is a terribly designed fight and I don't know what the devs were thinking. I said it. I once had to fight that fucker with a Rusty Axe. It took like 10 minutes.
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Nov 20, 2021 23:09
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Why is the dealer wearing what looks like a necklace with a light switch?
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Nov 21, 2021 00:04
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Wow, they really threw everything at you this run. I'm interested to see what fate (is that what it's called?) you'll play for the endless run.
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Nov 21, 2021 02:44
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Carbon dioxide posted:Why is the dealer wearing what looks like a necklace with a light switch? Thanks, now I can't unsee it. It explains all the mood lighting! Seraphic Neoman posted:Prob the most notable thing about the King of Skulls is that he looks cool and drops some of the best boss gear in the game imo. All three pieces of equipment are excellent. I'm lukewarm on the helm, but dammit if the sword and shield aren't nice in the right circumstances. I put the sword on par with the Rat Cleaver in that they're both fast, high damage weapons with a nice ability. ...and I'm so sorry about the Minotaur. You're not wrong. I think you'll enjoy what happens the next times he appears in the LP. 
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Nov 21, 2021 12:01
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Now that I'm thinking about it, why on earth would anyone put Nomad's desert into thier deck? I know it can give you a new weapon, but it also completely destroys your food and health.
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Nov 21, 2021 15:41
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Tombot posted:Now that I'm thinking about it, why on earth would anyone put Nomad's desert into thier deck? I know it can give you a new weapon, but it also completely destroys your food and health. 4 gain cards is pretty huge and you can exit the generic encounter, unlike in the quest chain. So if you're low on food just don't go in. It's actually a rather decent reward. Health loss is whatever in this game. Max health loss hurts but it's usually in the single digits. That said, Pain cards in lower floors they can give you a curse so you gotta be careful.
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Nov 21, 2021 19:49
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Seraphic Neoman posted:4 gain cards is pretty huge and you can exit the generic encounter, unlike in the quest chain. So if you're low on food just don't go in. It's actually a rather decent reward. If it's like the fate storyline cards, the best part would be that the part of the encounter that takes away food is consequence-free. I don't think they added an alternative punishment.
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Nov 21, 2021 21:48
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A third attempt at Endless Mode, with Goblins and Lava Golems and Mages, oh my! As we're getting closer to the end of the game and the videos get longer, I'm going to be cutting out more fights where nothing of note happens rather than just doing speedups. Part 12: Endless mode, third run (YouTube) Hoarder's Desire is fun to play around with if you can get past the initial hump. I wasn't doing badly, aside from being resource-constrained; even the curses were not my end. By the later floors in this run, enemies were dying noticeably faster to the axe and the mace. It's just that the mace was slow enough to be an impediment again. Seriously, the allure of high damage is hard to resist. My understanding of the combat queue deepens a bit, since a lot of Ratmen were able to leap towards me in short succession. Special attacks seem to be their own special deal; maybe the game only expects so many special attacks to be on the field at once. Metal Ore came first this time! …and Holy Forge did not appear. But the Metal Ore did allow us to pay our way past a DLC encounter gate. Although I skipped past many older encounters, it's good to remember that quite a few encounters will penalize you for trying to ignore them. In Story Mode you can try to keep them out of your deck, but Endless Mode doesn't have that luxury. Plus, you'll almost certainly have some annoying cards no matter what run you're in. The failures are good for this LP, not necessarily for your runs. And you know, I might have survived that final encounter had I done some savescumming. Which brings me to a note about… The Save System I debated whether I should add this section or not, but I had so much difficulty when searching for this information, I hope someone else will benefit. Hand of Fate has an automatic save system which saves to a file named player.profile. If you're not in an active run, the game will save your current equipment and encounter decks, and your currently selected Fate. Reloading the game brings you to the start screen. If you are in a run, the game will save your progress right when an encounter is finished, or when you move back to a visited card. Within a run, all card decks will also stay in the same order, and reloading an old save file will not change the layout of further floors. A few dungeons such as Maze of Traps won't be the same because they get generated when the encounter loads (we'll see that later in the LP). If you start an encounter and don't like the way it's going, the game might not let you quit from the menu, but you could force-quit and reload the game if you really want to go that route. However, you could just make copies of the save file and quit/restore them as needed. If you're going to do that, you need to know a quirk of the save system with regard to Steam: there are two save file locations!
Like with any other game, playing around with save files might make the game less enjoyable; the challenge is part of the fun! I think that as a first-time player, you should give the game a fair shot and play the game without resorting to messing with save files. Part of the point is the failure of death. However, I think it is good to know this information, and I like showing you a bit about how the game does what it does. Anaxite fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jan 4, 2022 |
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Nov 23, 2021 16:11
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