PhroX
-
Posts
555 -
Joined
-
Couple of shows I'm currently watching:
Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka - The fact that each episode so far has begun with a warning not to try this at home due to the lead character being a zombie should give you a clue as to the kind of show KWZDK is. And if it doesn't, then I'll spell it out: very very silly. Ayumu isn't really a zombie in the traditional sense of eating brains and shambling around, but he was raised from the dead by a necromancer (after being murdered by a serial killer), so it kinda fits. Within a couple of episodes, he's been joined by not just said necromancer (who happens to be a cute girl...) but a magical girl (who loses her powers in an interesting way) and a very well endowed female vampire-ninja. They fight monsters that include a giant crayfish in a suit with rocket claws. Hilarity most definitely ensues...
Puella Magi Madoka Magica - As you might guess, this is a magical girl show. Or to be more precise, a brutal deconstruction of a magical girl show. Giving kids superpowers and asking them to save the world should not be a good idea, and Madoka explores this. A bit of a slow start perhaps, but it picks up very well with the ending of ep 3. -
As I said in the anime thread, IMO, it's good, but not great nor worthy of some of the hype it seems to have recieved. I'm not sure if I can really explain why, other than to say that was lacking that intangible "it" that makes a film great. Perhaps at times it was a bit too much of a kids film (I probably would've loved it were I 13-14) That said, it's still worth checking out as there's a hell of a lot worse ways to spend a couple of hours of your life
-
Tsukihime - To be honest, this is neither a recommendation nor something I've seen recently. I'm only posting about it cos it links nicely into the next series I'm going to talk about. Anyway, Tsukihime is based on a (very, very good) visual novel by Kinoko Nasu (Fate StayNight), and is pretty much the perfect example of how not to do an adaption. Huge, important, parts of the story cut, people acting horribly out of character (when they even retain any form of character at all...), CMoAs just ignored, etc. Frankly, I can't find anything to recommend about this anime - either just play/read the original VN (here's a LP with the full script), or if you want something to watch, try....
Kara No Kyoukai - Another adaption of a Nasu work (an earlier novel that is oft considered to be the prototype for Tsukihime), KNK is, on the other hand, an incredible series. Beginning with strawberry ice cream, but generally tending more towards exploring concepts like perception and memory (don't worry action fans, there's a fair bit of badassery too...), this will probably screw with your mind, but most definitely in a good way. The music's damn good too (well, it is done by a certain Yuki Kajiura...). -
Quote:Yeah, too much -rech hurts, but thats a small price to payOriginally Posted by Airhammer
Fun when PermaDom is up... not so much when its down
-
My Fire/Fire/Fire dom hit 50 a month or so ago and she was one of the most enjoyable characters I'd ever had (probably only bettered by my melee-fort) even with a mostly frankenslotted build. The control side was limited, but with the fire epic, I was playing like a blaster, 'cept with some added toys. Great fun. 10 days or so ago, I decided to bite the bullet and throw the odd billion or so inf at her and reach permadom status...
And it is soooooooo much fun. Worth every penny (or whatever the smallest denomination of inf is). Locking down whole spawns with Flashfire (bosses included) while raining firey death from above and toasting the survivors. And doing it every spawn. Bosses? Pah, one shot holds them, and a couple of cycles of Blaze > FB > Incin ends it. Team or solo, it's great just running around setting fire to all the helpless fools who dare oppose me
Anyway, that's all I really wanted to say. Fire^3 doms are great to begin with, but permadom Fire^3 doms go beyond the impossible when it comes to sheer enjoyment
-
Quote:Indeed. I've caught up with all the released episodes of this, and it just gets better with each one. To be honest, it's such a mashup of different themes and genres - mecha and magic girl as you said, plus a healthy dash of slice-of-life romantic comedy and a big pile of mind screw, - along with numerous references to the Phoenicians (yes, really), that it really doesn't deserve to work. But it does. FABULOUSLY. Probably the closest thing to it I can think of is actually Utena - which is perhaps unsurprising as they're written by the same person - albeit with mecha and nothing even resembling seriousness.Originally Posted by Rush_Bolt
Star Driver is what you get when you take a Mecha show and try to cram every Magical Girl trope into it.
And it's AWESO- FABULOUS because of it.
And to take D_R's idea of a quote that sums up the show...
"Apprivoise! Dazzling the stage! The Galactic Pretty Boy! TAUBURN!" -
Quote:If you haven't already, check out Noir. Very much the spiritual predecessor to Madlax - same studio, similar themes. Most people seem to rate Noir higher and, while I disagree, it's still a damn good series.Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
MADLAX
Random series quote: "How dare you interfere, Vanessa Rene... we could have danced forever..."
Action. Drama. And none of the women are stereotypes. Another show whose trailer intrigued me, and the series proved to be far deeper and more complicated than I'd imagined. Although I suspected its ending about halfway through the show, I wanted to see how they were going to explain it (and more so, what they were going to do with it). They did not disappoint. -
Quote:I was rather disappointed with Summer Wars. Some of my friends had really hyped it up, but in the end, I felt that it was, while not bad, just, well, ordinary. Nothing about it really leapt out at me as being something special.Originally Posted by Chazzmatazz
Just watched Summer Wars ( movie ) and liked it. Kind of Miyazaki style character animation with strong family themes mixed with a playful out-of control AI that threatens the whole planet. Link (watch in series via the Video Mirrors tab)
As an aside, I've also seen the first couple of episodes of Star Diver. It's FABULOUS!!!
-
Quote:While the idea of them "blowing away" a NW in terms of damage is indeed stupid, they can pretty much match them while bringing extra goodies to the table.Originally Posted by Person34
Damage: Yeah, a NW will out-burst and out dps a fort, by a large margain. I've played the fabled "melee fort" before, I've succumbed to the illusion that they blow away a NW in damage because they can stack FU and aim... but it isn't the case.
What folks don't mention is that to play a high dps fort you need to... play it just like a NW. No ranged controls or damage, just jump in and scrap it out. This is because it's the melee attacks that allow for this (FU specifically), so if you want to be a melee murderer just do a favor for yourself and pick up the NW path. Aim is nice and all, but it simply cannot replace slash + eviscerate.
Melee forts don't work because of aim (in fact Aim is, IMO, a waste of a power for anyone other than blasters and even then its debatable), they work because the best attack chain available to them is only fractionally lower than that of a NW (IIRC the ratio is something like 1.21 vs 1.18 - and that NW one is, IMO, irritatingly convoluted, while the fort is a nice simple 1-2-3-4 chain). Slash really doesn't make much of difference in the long run, and while eviscerate is nice, it only hits 5 targets, while my Fort will be hitting 16 with Psi-nado and -wail.
So basically, I can either match a NW for damage by jumping in and clawing things to death, or I can use my controls (or, more likely, do a mix), all with the same build.
The caveat is that I have spent a fair amount of inf - not stupid amounts, my only purples are the cheapish confuse set - to get there, and you could probably have a NW capable of doing similar damage for less, but it wouldn't have the added flexibility of the controls my Fort brings to the table.
Just to note, I'm not saying NWs are bad by any means, and indeed, I had great fun playing my widow as one for most of her life before I respecced into her current Fort build. I also do rather agree with ranged forts being lacking, at least against single targets. -
MA/Fire scrapper. Because what could be more epic than KICKING PEOPLE IN THE FACE WHILE ON FIRE!
-
Quote:And a Fortunata that take the melee attacks is even more effective, having effectively the same damage as a NW and far more utilityOriginally Posted by Starcloud
Leaving aside a proposed build for the moment, the main difference between a Night Widow and a Fortunata is that the Night Widow is melee. Because of that, the Night Widow does more damage, faster, and is overall more effective.
-
Quote:GW can love, she just can't change. So if she loved Sci before she died, she still would. If not, well, he's out of luck..Originally Posted by BlueBattler
Belladonna was a Night Widow before she was a ghost. Night Widows are supposed to be masters of seduction and betrayal. I have no doubt that she could make almost anyone she wanted fall in love with her.
I just don't think she'd return it.
That being said, I don't think she'd appreciate it if anyone turned Scirocco's eye from her.
-
Quote:I just rebound the F keys so they go by insp type not column:Originally Posted by Rodion
On my keyboard it's easier to find the F1 key than any other function key, so I put greens in the column corresponding to that key. Being able to quickly use a green will save your life: milliseconds count!
F1 - Green
F2 - Blue
F3 - Purple
F4 - Red
F5 - BF
The rest are unimportant enough to do by clicking
-
In general, I would never mix typed and positional defenses. There's just too much wasted overlap for it to be worth it. Either take the build with RES, or try to work one with AoE and/or Melee defense too (not necessarily softcapped, but within a small luck perhaps)
-
Quote:I wouldn't really agree with this. In fact, I'd say DB is less flexible than other sets, due to the need to complete combos locking them into a specific attack order.Originally Posted by seebs
So it sounds like DB is slightly weaker than Claws if you don't ever use combos, but the combos give some extra flexibility and options in some cases.
However, it is a cool looking, fun and effective set, providing a good amount of ST and AoE damage along with a nice bit of control in the form of knockdowns. -
Yep, my Fire^3 dom isn't anywhere near permadommed (IIRC, I'm at ~10% global rech w/o hasten), and yet it's one of the most fun characters I've ever made, and capable of a hell of a lot of asswhuppin
-
Quote:I'm trying to think of a single encounter in the game which turns *any* well built and played character into a liability. And failing. Sure, you won't always be able to work to your full capability, but if you think that means you're a liability, well, then, all I can say is you need to learn the meaning of the word.Originally Posted by Heraclea
It is inevitable that gimmick fights disfavor melee:
- The boss is made invincible by an ally he summons. You must break off to fight something else.
- You aren't allowed to stand within melee range of the boss; you must run away.
- The boss is using an AOE nuke; you must run away.
- You can't stand next to the boss, the boss will be healed by your presence.
-
Quote:I'd disagree with LGTF needing specific ATs. Yes, you do need a mix of abilities, but there's plenty of ATs that provide each of them. I've done one where our "control" was, IIRC, a dark defender (or maybe a corr, I forget) and an elec/elec blaster. With the holds from their main powersets plus the APP/PPPs, they had enough to lock down the greens. No need for a dedicated control AT.Originally Posted by Blood Red Arachnid
The two TFs and SFs you'll want specific AT's for all the time are the Lady Gray Task Force and the Barracuda Strike force. The Lady gray just needs a good mix of holds, ranged damage, and melee damage. The barracuda needs either plenty of support ATs, or just one Defender/Mastermind to de-intangible the final boss.
Of course, for every run like this I get some idiot refusing to start without a troller/dom even though we've got two fully IOed out Fortunatas who between them could probably nearly stack enough hold to lockdown an AV... -
The main thing about CoX is, as a couple of people have mentioned, that, on the default settings, the game is easy. It's specifically designed so that you don't need optimised characters and/or teams to complete nearly all of the content provided that the players are competent. Take 8 people with shop bought "equipment", and regardless of their archetypes, they'll be able to do pretty much every mission and Task Force in the game.
The challenge comes from completing content with less players and/or higher level foes than it is designed for. Creating a character that can solo an Archvillain is a significant achievement (don't be put of by the fact that half the people here seem to be able to do this, it's not nearly that common overall). Alternatively, you might want to get some friends and try to take on a TF set to 3 or 4 levels higher than you. It's certainly doable, but will probably take a fair bit more thought and effort.
-
A few more recommendations. Christmas holiday + boredom = lots of anime watched
s-CRY-ed - A strange disaster create an island out of part of Tokyo, and give the people on it superpowers. They then use said superpowers mainly to fight each other. While nothing that hasn't been done before, s-CRY-ed is still a well worth watch, having both plenty of quality action and some well developed characters - the two antagonists (neither is really a hero or villain) in particular.
Sengoku BASARA - Yeah, I'm slow at seeing some of these, but damn, it was worth the wait. Basically it does for medieval Japan what TTGL did to mecha - go way way beyond the impossible. Maybe there weren't actually mechs and motorbike-horses in the 15th (or whenever) century, but who cares, this is just so much fun.
Dai Mahou Touge - The princess of a magical realm has to spend a year on Earth. You know where this is going? Well, probably not. Best described as a very dark satire, if you find carton violence hilarious, you'll love this. Reminds me quite a bit of Dokuro-chan. Which isn't that surprising as DMT's director was involved in that show too...
Needless - Admittedly, I've only seen the first 5 episodes, so it might change later, but so far this is AWESOME! Stupidly over the top fights, gratuitous amounts of MANLINESS, fanservice, explosions, badassery, fire, lesbians...what more could you ask for from an anime?
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha - This isn't one I've just watched, instead for some strange reason I've completely forgotten to recommend it before. Don't be put of by the title - this is not really your traditional magic girl show. Sure, kids could probably enjoy it, but, once the show really kicks into gear by episode 6 or so, it's clear that in truth, Nanoha is really aimed at anyone who likes great action shows. Imagine an OTT mecha anime - GaoGaiGar for example - swap the mechs for magic girls and you've pretty much got this. The second (A) and third (StrikerS) series just add to it, the latter in particular. -
It is indeed a great piece, but I really really wish it wasn't just a chest piece but instead a full wrap around thing which covered the back too.Plenty of the other armours in the "chest detail" section do, why not this one?
-
Quote:Yes you can, if you're lucky. Took my softcapped Fort through it a month at most ago, completely forgot about ambrosia during the final battle, and, despite being in melee range the entire time, never took a hit.Originally Posted by NordBlast
Eden was fixed few issues back. You cannot substitute ambrosia with lucks anymore.
-
Dare I ask what exactly the problem with inflation in game is? Sure, prices are higher, but at the same time, the vast majority of income comes from the market (even if all you do is just sell drops), so everyone's making more money too. I'm no hardcore marketeer, and I can't say I've noticed any significant change of my buying power compared to my earning ability.
-
Quote:Oh, certainly. I guess I wasn't clear enough - I'm not claiming I'm a BW, I was just saying that, based on my experiences from this build, the BW attacks on their own are perfectly good enough, so I would expect a BW build to work.Originally Posted by Novella
By using the Fort powers for control/utility, does that not make you a Fortunata rather than a Blood Widow even if your melee attacks are from the Blood Widow selection.
-
I've still got a fair few Fort powers for control and/or utility, but in terms of killing stuff, my Fortunata is highly dependent on the BW powers, particularly when it comes to ST damage, where my entire attack chain is made up of them (and, despite doing this for concept reasons, I ended up with a far more powerful character than one that uses the Fort attacks...). As such, I can't see a BW having any real problems, particularly if you squeeze in a few NW secondary powers like Mind Link.