Redlynne

There *was* talk on UStream about Paragon Studios teaming up with Valve ... coincidence?

Wow ... I hadn't realized they'd fumbled the ball on this one THAT HARD AND FAR. I am reminded of Zaathras in Babylon 5.

Except they wouldn't. Recharge reduction doesn't do anything to Animation Time. It just means they'd keep using the same attack repeatedly, instead of cycling through their attacks. To give you an example of how that can be a Bad Thing™ look no further than Ninja's Genin and imagine them spamming Throwing Stars (basically a Ranged Brawl) ... FOREVER.

Remember ... just because you've got +100% Recharge does not ipso facto equate to +100% DPS "just because" ... or whatever. It's a nice shortcut to think that way, but it is ultimately flawed thinking that doesn't take into account the building of attack chains (even for Pets).

Peacebringer can go human form only and "lose nothing" from not taking the forms. You don't need Nova to be able to Fly (like a Warshade does) and your Dwarf doesn't give you extra Damage Buffing (like a Warshade does). Just about the only weakness you'll have is Psionic Damage (what else is new...) and Mez effects (which can be gotten around by using breakfrees, teaming with Controllers/Dominators, and using Clarion as your Destiny, just to name a few).

I've stood at the back of the room and watched Montague and friends mop the floor with the incoming "hordes" of Rularu-shin. The only way Sigil or what's her name can be defeated is if she runs down the hall LIKE AN IDIOT and then SLOWLY walks back to the main room after defeating the last member of the last wave. And the only reason why THAT is a Bad Move™ is because her support team doesn't go with her and she leaves the healer behind. Other than that, the rest of the Midnighters (even *before* Darrin Wade shows up to "help" them) have everything COMPLETELY in hand and don't need my help (or Darrin's) at all!

Really? I was of the impression that the audience were already feeling cheated by SSAs 1-6 so far. Continuing that trend would simply be par for the course at this point ... wouldn't you say?

Somebody's been reading my rampant speculation on finding a possible "OUT" for keeping Sister Psyche alive, given what happened in SSA 6 ...

I don't see why it should. The very notion that Sister Psyche and Manticore are together smart enough to set Darrin Wade up to take the big fall is pretty far fetched, given the magnificent parade of incompetence we've been given a front row seat to so far.

At this point, not even Lord Nemesis himself can out-think Darrin Wade. I don't see Mender Silos handing out any missions to the effect of "You need to do this ONE LITTLE THING for me to completely change the fate of the Freedom Phalanx."

Right now my INF is All In on the square marked "Too Stupid To Live" for the Freedom Phalanx. I was simply trying to construct a scenario, using the available evidence, that allowed for an "out" from the horrible outcome of SSA 6, in a desperate gambit to save SOMETHING worthwhile out of it. Sadly, I presume I'm just going to be disappointed (again).

(2) improves the accuracy of all of your powers by 7%.
(3) increases Smashing and Lethal resistance by 1.58%.
(4) increases damage by 3%.
(5) improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 8.75%.
(6) increases Toxic and Psionic resistance by 2.21%.

(2) increases Recovery by 2.5%.
(3) increases Fire and Cold Resistance by 1.58%.
(4) improves the Accuracy of all your powers by 9%.
(5) improves the Recharge of all your powers by 6.25%.
(6) increases Toxic Resistance by 3.13%.

(2) reduces the duration of Stun effects on you by 2.2%.
(3) improves the Damage of all your powers by 3%.
(4) improves the Accuracy of all your powers by 9%.
(5) improves the Recharge of all your powers by 5%.
(6) increases Melee Defense by 3.75% and increases Smashing and Lethal Defense by 1.875%.



I'm wondering what other Sets (and I'm not just talking Purples here) would it make sense to swap out from "standard builds" to replace with Kheldian's Grace? Crushing Impact in the Dwarf Strike/Smite attacks? Entropic Chaos(+1 more), Decimation, Thunderstrike, Devastation in single target ranged attacks?

I ask this because right now I'm looking at Kheldian's Grace (bought two full sets off the market for a combined 120 million in one day!) for a respec of my Warshade and Peacebringer, and I keep coming back to the notion of using KG instead of either a Positron's Blast (somewhere) or an Obliteration (also somewhere). Right now, I'm leaning towards replacing Obliteration in Black Dwarf Mire and White Dwarf Flare with Kheldian's Grace, since those powers both have a significant endurance cost to them, and the greater endurance reduction of Kheldian's Grace over Obliteration would seem to be rather advantageous there.

A couple of other locations to slot Kheldian's Grace which suggest themselves, simply because these powers tend to be heavily slotted when taken anyway, are:

• Dark Extraction/Photon Seekers ... replacing a Recharge Intensive Pet set
• Gravity Well/Incandescent Strike ... replacing either a 4-slot Basilisk's Gaze + 2 Damage, or some other frankenslotting
• Quasar/Dawn Strike ... replacing another Obliteration set

It looked to me like he was "struggling" aplenty when he was caught in that Beam Of Light ... but that it wasn't doing him any good. I interpreted that whole sequence as being once he made the FATAL MISTAKE™ he was completely outmaneuvered and left with no remaining options. He then had a This Was Your Life™ epiphany in his final moments as his life was burned right out of him, and "accepted" his Final Defeat gracefully rather than dying in an agonizing scream of helplessness ... because the ideals and principles he lived for, fought for, and ultimately died for, were bigger than himself ... and would be carried on by others.

Statesman was checkmated ... and he knew it, once the trap was sprung. It's not that he didn't struggle ... but that he had no way out (because Darrin Wade has the all important power of Script Immunity ). It's a glass half-full vs half-empty sort of difference ... but it IS a difference.

... wait, no ... sorry ... wrong quote.
You're told by your mission contact that Darrin Wade "now has Sister Psyche's powers" ... without even giving the slightest indication of HOW this was accomplished or even that this has in some way been DEMONSTRATED AND PROVEN by events elsewhere (in the less than a minute it takes you to travel back to your contact after exiting the mission). It's just "assumed" (why? for what reason?) that Wade now has Sister Psyche's powers too, since she's now "Dead" by Manticore's hands (and very pointy stick with fletchings). If your contact "knows this" that fast, then it's beyond easy to assume that Darrin Wade will "know" as well that Sister Psyche is "dead" ... except ... is she?

If Sister Psyche, with Manticore's (willing?) help is "playing possum" about being dead ... then what's really needed in SSA 6 Mission 3 is for the Player Character to "witness" the act of "The Kill" ... confirm that Manticore is "not himself" ... and then LEAVE. Once your character and Penelope Yin are gone, Manticore('s body, with Sister Psyche's consciousness in the driver's seat) can go about the grisly business of securing Sister Psyche's (impaled) body in a highly protected medical facility where the arrow in her body can be removed and her physical wound(s) sewn up ... although any sort of healing for that problem can't take place until Sister Psyche's mind returns to her own wounded body (and turns the lights on again inside of it). The "nice" thing about all of this is that since her body is in a state of "stasis" and not aging, there's *TIME* to go about doing this that would NOT be available otherwise. Basically, the "lethal" wound dealt to her is something that Sister Psyche can "do something about" ... unlike a normal human ... by being sneaky about it (and putting her own body "on pause" by Mind Riding someone else).

Meanwhile ... "everyone" believes that Sister Psyche is DEAD (when she really isn't) and because of that, Darrin Wade believes that his scheme has worked and proceeds to the next phase of his Master Plan. The problem is that Sister Psyche and Manticore have deceived Darrin Wade into making a critical error, that will then result in all of the unraveling of his long laid plans.

Since Sister Psyche's body needs to stay hospitalized, Manticore permits her to once again Mind Ride him (once her body is stabilized and in the best of care). Manticore/Psyche then manage to infiltrate Darrin Wade's Ritual Lair and at the critical moment are present at the right place, and at the right time, to be able to have Sister Psyche reclaim whatever power(s) Darrin Wade believes he stole from her under the precedent of the "Synapse Clause" of I'm not REALLY dead yet as established in SSA 1. Darrin Wade's plan for taking control of Rularuu backfires horribly, and it is Darrin Wade who is "devoured" by Rularuu The Devourer just before the Player Character seals off the Rift which made contact with the Shadow Shard from Primal Earth possible and allowing everyone (except Darrin Wade) to escape ... thus Saving The Day (and finally doing something RIGHT for once, whether you're a Hero or a Villain).



Is such a possibility "a stretch" ... as they say? Most definitely.

But do we have *proof* that something like this is not only NOT POSSIBLE, but also NOT happening? Suffice it to say, the evidence of falsifiability isn't there.



As I said ... open to interpretation.

Redside you only need to worry about getting beacons to some 9 zones (if you include Pocket D). Blueside you're going to be dealing with 22 (or 21, maybe, come Issue 22 and the "loss" of Dark Astoria). Big difference between 9 and 22 destinations.

Don't talk about Black Pebble that way (and especially not when he's eating a lunch that was bought for him!).

Once again ... Manticore/Justin is shown to be THE MAN WITHOUT A PLAN.

My first thought on seeing the cutscene (on both sides of this) was ... "why didn't you rig the altar with explosives BEFORE you put YOUR WIFE on it so that you could blow it if something went wrong?" You carry EXPLOSIVE arrows in your quiver man! How long would it have taken you to MacGuyver up a way to blow'n'crack the altar (thus rendering it inert and non-functional as a fallback option) just in case something "went wrong" or you had some sort of horrendous feedback loop problem (like you actually DID) so as to give yourself some options?

My second thought on watching the cutscene (on both sides of this) was ... "why the flipping pancake did you reach for the POINTY arrow?!?" Either the Sleep Gas arrow or the Stunning Shot arrow would have been SO MUCH BETTER and more preferable to use!

My third thought on watching the cutscene (on blueside) and getting back Manticore was ... "are you so incompetent you don't even HAVE A WAKIE?!?" ... quickly followed by ... "you fool, she's only been 'dead' for less than a minute, not HOURS like Alexis was!! DO SOMETHING!!"

/em batsmash



I thought it was weird enough to have Sister Psyche tagging along beside me (blueside) in Mission 3, being a NON-combatant (whiskey tango foxtrot?) while Penelope Yin just mops the floor with everything we encounter. Shalice Tilman didn't look *at all* "out of it" in terms of being able to walk/run/swim/jump around, to the point where I kept wondering to myself, "if she's this ambulatory/functional/self-propelled ... WHY are we doing this again?"



The only possible way I can see myself "forgiving" the writing-slash-railroading we see in SSA 6 is if somehow Sister Psyche is now mind-riding Justin/Manticore ... so that even if her original BODY is dead, just like Mother Mayhem's was/is, Sister Psyche is still very much "alive" in mind and spirit, and just merely in need of a willing "host" body to continue living in (like both Aurora Borealis-es on Primal and Praetoria). Of course, that would be a really *WEIRD* thing to have happen to Justin/Shalice, where they wind up being united in mind, body and spirit like that ... but it's not IMPOSSIBLE given the way things are turning out.



And as for how the blueside Mission 3 plays out ... really brilliant plan of having the OTHER greatest psychic in the world tag along with ME to deal with an assassin, rather than stick around with Manticore and Sister Psyche to help with the ritual to HEAL THE PSYCHIC!



It's like Manitcore is the anti-Nemesis or something. No matter what happens, he manages to screw things up and only make the situation worse for himself. Even when his allies (ie. the Players) are "victorious" he still manages to snatch Defeat from the jaws of Victory. He's like the poster boy for LOSE AND FAIL right now.

checks wishlist

How about making the Carnival of Light Belt for Females available for combination with Shirts, Robes, Jackets (Sleeveless also) and Unique Tops (thinking Spring Fling Toga here)?

Hopefully that includes TRON-like Circuitry patterns (see existing Circuitry pattern in-game) and not just Cyborg Aura: A.C.C.A.H.U.D. styled full body holographic projection armors.

Flight Only ... Jumping (in air) Only ... Jumping (on landing) Only ... Running Only ... 2 out of 4 combos ... 3 out of 4 combos ... and the existing 4 out of 4 combos.

Imagine a Rainbow Path Aura that only causes FX when Jumping ... producing nice parabolic arcs (like they should be) but which doesn't produce FX with other movement modes. Imagine an Autumn Path Aura that only causes FX when standing/running on the "ground" ... and so on.

Hey ... not your fault Andy. You're just the messenger here (and doing a decent job of it too, I might add).

I thought tankers did that on Tuesdays ...