That's actually pretty nuts that there isn't any native support.
I always have a PC controller handy since I play so many old-ish style games so I didn't even notice.
Not related to Chained Echoes (well kinda), I'm subbed to Gamepass again and Jesus Christ what a smorg of games for like a buck for the first month. Persona 5 is on there! I also realized it's been so long since I played a multiplayer game of any kind that I had a panic attack even starting Dark Tide.
I always have a PC controller handy since I play so many old-ish style games so I didn't even notice.
Not related to Chained Echoes (well kinda), I'm subbed to Gamepass again and Jesus Christ what a smorg of games for like a buck for the first month. Persona 5 is on there! I also realized it's been so long since I played a multiplayer game of any kind that I had a panic attack even starting Dark Tide.
So, I don't have the dudes you have, for sure. Nor the ilevels. But I tried to use my newfound understanding of Warduke (plus my new Imoen pickup) to see what I could do....
Ended up dying on 412, with an 8e04% increase in Torm's. Highest damage dealer: Imoen.
I guess that's ok
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GasBandit
Staff member
I think you've got the formation down (I too have taken to running Nayeli in that exact same position, found her buff to be stronger than the other one I was using). Now it's just a matter of farming and spending favor to get further permanent boosts. Start saving (meaning not opening) your silver chests so you can unlock Mirt the Moneylender as a patron so you can do patron variant missions (extra limitations on the missions you've already done) that will get you patron currency and influence you can spend on even more buffs and items. It's the unlocked achievement bonuses and patron bonuses that will make the other adventures doable, which up until now I thought was kinda bullshit that their first missions turn "deadly" difficulty so fast. I guess it's because they assume you've capped out Grand Tour of the Sword Coast first.So, I don't have the dudes you have, for sure. Nor the ilevels. But I tried to use my newfound understanding of Warduke (plus my new Imoen pickup) to see what I could do....
View attachment 43410
View attachment 43409
Ended up dying on 412, with an 8e04% increase in Torm's. Highest damage dealer: Imoen.
View attachment 43411
I guess that's ok
Yeah, I don't know what's going on with Imoen. Her base damage right now is 1e99 on level 400, and Wardukes is 1e117. Mobs are at 1e125 hp. He's hitting stuff and barely moving the hitbox, and she's one-shotting everything. I think something's broken, but I'm not complaining.
GasBandit
Staff member
There's a lot of bugs like that once you start to get into the multihundred rounds. Before I had Warduke, my favorite exploit was to load Orkira up with buffs as much as possible, and watch as she did no damage yet her lingering fire ticks would inexplicably kill people for no reason. It wasn't as reliable as Warduke (or even Imoen), but it was good enough to get a couple hundred rounds in.
I've had several runs now with imoen consistently outdamaging warduke for no reason I can discern. Like you, I'm happy to sploit that for as much as I can. I don't really have any expectation for it to get fixed, either - from what I've read and experienced, Codename isn't very motivated to squash bugs.
Monster Hunter Rise in the car. Challenge mode lol!!
figmentPez
Staff member
Watch_Dogs
I'm of mixed opinions on this one. On the positive side, it's a beautifully created world, with lots to do, and some interesting ideas. On the other hand, virtually nothing about this feels polished, probably because it tries to do way too much.
The best parts:
Overall, I'm enjoying myself, but I'm going to rush through the story and ignore almost all of the side activities. I like collecting stuff, but I suck at stealth, and anything with gunplay or driving sucks.
I'll probably check out the sequel, which I also picked up for free at some point.
I'm of mixed opinions on this one. On the positive side, it's a beautifully created world, with lots to do, and some interesting ideas. On the other hand, virtually nothing about this feels polished, probably because it tries to do way too much.
The best parts:
- Observing enemies via cameras and then making stuff around them explode is a lot of fun.
- Some of the hacked phone conversations are amusing.
- The world is heavily populated and the people do more than just walk around.
- Walking around and hacking people's phones is engaging, if flawed..
- The hacking has some rough edges. Who thought it was a good idea to force the player to stop eavesdropping on a conversation in order to do any other type of hack? What this means is that, as you're walking to your destination, you're forced to choose between listening to potentially interesting audio, which has no further value, or to try to hack more phones to potentially get bank accounts that give you money, which does have in-game value. Forcing players to choose between entertainment and gameplay is never a wise choice, it's lose-lose.
- Driving feels terrible. I'm not sure if it's just because my framerate tanks at speed, but I suspect it's more than that. It just does not feel good to drive around, and it feels even worse when the game, all too frequently, forces a car chase on you.
- Some of the activities are just plain bad, or stupid. Why is playing the shell game against a street hustler a thing? And why is the interface to do so terrible?
- Shooting feels stiff, and the weapon wheel is awkward.
Overall, I'm enjoying myself, but I'm going to rush through the story and ignore almost all of the side activities. I like collecting stuff, but I suck at stealth, and anything with gunplay or driving sucks.
I'll probably check out the sequel, which I also picked up for free at some point.
So, I let the game idle overnight on Werewolves in the mist. Woke up to being stuck on about level 421, which isn't a terrible problem to have. But I got busy at work and doing the end-of-month bill payment cycle, and I came back to the heroes just cutting through the enemies like butter. I must have idled on 421 until I leveled enough to get over the hump, because...
figmentPez
Staff member
Finished Watch_Dogs, and my final verdict is the gameplay is mediocre to poor, and the plot is absolute garbage.
Women only exist in Watch Dogs to be victims and provide man-pain motivation to the characters. The starting motivation is the protagonist's niece getting killed in a car crash when he's targeted by the criminals he's angered. Then his sister, the dead neice's mom is kidnapped, then the manic pixie dream girl hacker he meets gets killed (no apologies for spoiling such a shit plot point in an 8 year old game). Throw in rescuing some random prostitute who you never see again, and a whole bunch of other general references to women being victimized, but not a single woman in a position of power. The only time a woman picks up a gun in this game is when the protagonist's kidnapped sister picks up a pistol, complains about how she doesn't know what to do with it, and then accidentally shoots one of her captors in a startled panic (which causes the protagonist to agonize about how traumatized she is by taking her first life).
I heard so many reviews criticize Watch Dogs for not living up to it's promises, and citing bad performance, and lackluster gameplay, but I don't recall anyone rightfully roasting the plot for how terrible it is.
Aside from that, this game feels like it was originally supposed to be a GTA knock-off focused on being a gangster, but that got retrofit to being about a hacker vigilante, because the whole hacking thing goes woefully underutilized. A lot of the minigames, like a drinking game, the aforementioned shell game, poker, slot machines, etc. feel like they're from another game. I think the game might let you cheat at poker, but you can't hack the slot machines.
The most unintentionally hilarious part of Watch Dogs is that you unlock songs by hacking people's phones, and sometimes find a new track. Either elite hacker boy has no clue how to pirate music, or it's the only way he knows how to find new artists. "I only have like 10 songs in my collection, if I want a copy of 'Wake Up Sunshine' by Chicago, I'll have to randomly find it on someone's phone while I'm hacking bank accounts."
Which is only the tip of the iceberg on how this game fumbles hacking both thematically and mechanically. I can forgive the strange conceit that hacking is done by line of sight (most of the time), and that somehow hacking a camera lets you hack whatever you can see through the camera. As unrealistic as that is, it makes for decent gameplay... when the game actually lets you do it.
When it comes down to it, the game does a piss poor job of showcasing the hacking mechanics, and sometimes actively prevents you from doing it. There are too many firefights where hacking is either completely impossible, or absolutely pointless. Not to mention all the car chases where hacking feels awkward and luck based. I intentionally leveled up towards getting a skill to disable helicopters during chases, only to find that it's nearly worthless because you can't target helicopters when they're directly overhead! The game won't let aim more than about 45 degrees when in a car, and even on foot you can't aim anywhere close to straight up. So a helicopter can hover right overhead, with a sniper shooting you, and there's jack shit to be done about it other than try to run away.
There's virtually no social engineering aspect to the hacking. The only time the protagonist pretends to be someone, is faking being a specific criminal (who you have to kill before stealing his invite to a human trafficking auction). You never fake being a pizza guy, or having a delivery. You don't call up tech support to reset someone's password, or bluff your way into getting personal information. You blackmail a grand total of one person.
Leverage had five seasons on TV before Watch_Dogs came out. This should have been Leverage: the Video Game. Instead it feels like the dev team only had time to convert just a few parts of the game to being hacking, after having spent most of their time making it about rival gangs.
Aside from some missions that force stealth, it's always better to kill off all the guards, because if you do manage to sneak past them, they'll almost always become hostile the moment you've finished your objective, and you'll have to fight them on your way out, from a much worse position, and sometimes have to deal with reinforcements, too.
The final missions are complete bullshit, too. I was so sick of "escape from the police" by the end, it felt like every other mission ended that way. (Not to mention the forced stealth in a car mission.) Police vehicles are as fast as any car you can drive, and faster than most, heavier than any fast car, will materialize out of nothing, are extremely aggressive, and it's pretty much complete luck escaping them. I've raised a bridge blocking the 4+ cars chasing me, only to land on the other side to another incoming, who instantly summoned more to start ramming me. If your car gets too damaged to run away, you might as well just give up, because trying to switch vehicles is a death sentence.
It was fun traveling around the map, collecting stuff, stopping crimes, hacking random people on the street, and there was even some decent fun to be had trying to find my way into some of the un-guarded locations. Once I got a silenced gun, and stopped trying to sneak past gang members, it was even passably fun to take down gang hideouts.
The main missions ranged from mediocre to terrible, though.
GasBandit
Staff member
@Tinwhistler
If you're running Warduke as a tank, Viconia is much better support for bench 5 than Calliope. "Cleric of Shar" only buffs evil characters, but it does so MUCH more than Calliope's unrestricted buffs. Also Imoen's stoneskin makes Calliope's damage shield obsolete pretty much.
Baeloth is also a really good utility (Support/Gold) guy to throw in the mix. Really helps with damage and gold generation. Your damage will look e01 lower on paper by round 500, but his "Cause for Celebration" ability really comes in handy because it makes enemies clumped up on Warduke die a lot faster when one of them dies.
I've put them both in my mid-rear and center columns, respectively.
If you're fighting Undead (like in the Vecna missions), Nerys actually starts outdamaging Marduke, even if they're in the party at the same time. If you're not fighting undead, her spiritual weapon makes Marduke do even more damage. Her only downside is you have to give up Penelope's knockbacks, which means bosses aren't trivialized anymore.
I have however found some kind of bug that I'm not sure how to replicate where if I'm running Nerys, and a boss comes out who has, like, 1000x more HP than Marduke's damage output, and he starts building boss power multiplier, for some reason if I switch to Penelope, let her get one knockback in, and then switch back to Nerys, the boss dies immediately on the next Marduke hit regardless of HP. I suspect it's something related to the previous bug I talked about where using Penelope's ultimate would instakill a boss who was building multiplier.
If you're running Warduke as a tank, Viconia is much better support for bench 5 than Calliope. "Cleric of Shar" only buffs evil characters, but it does so MUCH more than Calliope's unrestricted buffs. Also Imoen's stoneskin makes Calliope's damage shield obsolete pretty much.
Baeloth is also a really good utility (Support/Gold) guy to throw in the mix. Really helps with damage and gold generation. Your damage will look e01 lower on paper by round 500, but his "Cause for Celebration" ability really comes in handy because it makes enemies clumped up on Warduke die a lot faster when one of them dies.
I've put them both in my mid-rear and center columns, respectively.
If you're fighting Undead (like in the Vecna missions), Nerys actually starts outdamaging Marduke, even if they're in the party at the same time. If you're not fighting undead, her spiritual weapon makes Marduke do even more damage. Her only downside is you have to give up Penelope's knockbacks, which means bosses aren't trivialized anymore.
I have however found some kind of bug that I'm not sure how to replicate where if I'm running Nerys, and a boss comes out who has, like, 1000x more HP than Marduke's damage output, and he starts building boss power multiplier, for some reason if I switch to Penelope, let her get one knockback in, and then switch back to Nerys, the boss dies immediately on the next Marduke hit regardless of HP. I suspect it's something related to the previous bug I talked about where using Penelope's ultimate would instakill a boss who was building multiplier.
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GasBandit
Staff member
A got a few new games over Christmas and have started to play them. I am loving Slime Rancher 2. It’s early access and there isn’t a big quest line yet (that I’ve found) which I love because I can farm my little slimes and do whatever.
They’ve added some super cute ones!!
They’ve added some super cute ones!!
Three very different, but super awesome games. Enjoy!
I've sunk like 50 hours into this in the span of 2 weeks since getting it during the steam sale. It is deceptively complex for something that on the surface seems very simple, from the different wands you can craft down to the level design and overall gameplay. What initially seemed like get to the bottom and move to the next level has quickly revealed to have MUCH more going on under the hood.
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My brother basically begged me to play Red Dead Redemption 2 and I don't think I've hated playing a game more in my life. Has there ever been a game that disrespects you, your time and your intelligence more? Every time I come to part of the game that is legitimately terrible, all I read online is people saying it's supposed to be bad. Fuck you, this is a fucking video game that can't decide if it's a whacky GTA romp or serious old west story, sometimes in the middle of the same conversation. Just because the graphics are good doesn't mean the design is, because it's legitimately awful. You can't buy a rifle until you do the mission that unlocks a rifle. Stores won't sell you a fucking rifle until you do some nebulous challenges and it's just been this for SO long. They even managed to make shit like fishing and hunting in video games, something I generally enjoy doing, into a tedious, boring chore.
I'm at Guarma, which I HOPE is near the end of the game because this game is getting so fucking tiring. Guarma is literally a 2 hour shooting gallery that you immediately lose if you leave the automated track for a second, then you have to restart 10 minutes back because the checkpointing is so awful.
Right now, I fucking hate this game. Goes to show that all you need to wow people into believing a game is one of the greatest ever made is overly detailed graphics. They make this beautiful open world full of stuff to look at and then make game missions that will fail you if you take so much as three steps off of the EXACT linear bullshit Rockstar wanted. It's been an incredibly frustrating experience from the start.
I'm at Guarma, which I HOPE is near the end of the game because this game is getting so fucking tiring. Guarma is literally a 2 hour shooting gallery that you immediately lose if you leave the automated track for a second, then you have to restart 10 minutes back because the checkpointing is so awful.
Right now, I fucking hate this game. Goes to show that all you need to wow people into believing a game is one of the greatest ever made is overly detailed graphics. They make this beautiful open world full of stuff to look at and then make game missions that will fail you if you take so much as three steps off of the EXACT linear bullshit Rockstar wanted. It's been an incredibly frustrating experience from the start.
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You forgot the to mention the accidental kills,
Or that somehow there is always a witness.
Or the confusing inventory
I have never felt so betrayed by game reviews as I did for Red Dead Redemption 2. I don't know what game they were playing, but this is NOT the "greatest game of all time". The controls were awful, the inventory was awful, the characters and story were both ridiculous and awful. Made it two hours before giving up. At least I bought it on sale.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a wonderful example of an over-developed game. The game is incredibly grand in idea, and its entirely to its detriment. They tried to include every tiny detail but never stopped to think about whether this made for a good game or not. At least the horse balls shrivel up when the weather turns cold.
figmentPez
Staff member
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince (Thanks to @ThatNickGuy for gifting this to me.)
This is definitely the best Trine game yet. They've refined the formula to near perfection. The changes to controls seemed odd to me at first, but the more I used them, the more I realized the developers made very good choices. The game can still be a little fiddly sometimes, and a few puzzles felt like I'd stumbled into some sort of kludge that could not have been the intended solution, but that's part of the charm of Trine, and there are far more puzzles that feel like elegant puzzle solving than ever before.
The graphics are absolutely gorgeous. I've got more than a dozen screenshots I'll be using as wallpapers in the future. Here are just a few:
The story is also charming, continuing in the storybook fashion with a narrator. The self-aware humor is even better than ever.
Highly recommended if you enjoy puzzle platforming.
This is definitely the best Trine game yet. They've refined the formula to near perfection. The changes to controls seemed odd to me at first, but the more I used them, the more I realized the developers made very good choices. The game can still be a little fiddly sometimes, and a few puzzles felt like I'd stumbled into some sort of kludge that could not have been the intended solution, but that's part of the charm of Trine, and there are far more puzzles that feel like elegant puzzle solving than ever before.
The graphics are absolutely gorgeous. I've got more than a dozen screenshots I'll be using as wallpapers in the future. Here are just a few:
The story is also charming, continuing in the storybook fashion with a narrator. The self-aware humor is even better than ever.
Highly recommended if you enjoy puzzle platforming.
I keep meaning to play these games, but since they're meant to be played as co-op (although I understand you CAN play solo) I'd really like to play them with someone.
I got a free trial for WoW to return and try out Dragonflight, and so I decided to return to WoW after years of being an exile, and it's had a huge impact on me.
The impact is mostly in that it made me want to play FFXIV again, and so after deleting WoW my catboy is back in action and clearing abyssos savage right now. The new heavensturn glam has my samurai job looking lit.
The impact is mostly in that it made me want to play FFXIV again, and so after deleting WoW my catboy is back in action and clearing abyssos savage right now. The new heavensturn glam has my samurai job looking lit.
GasBandit
Staff member
Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms (yes, still)
So, I'm on a patron mission which disallows all neutral champions and all champions with INT below 13, the latter of which unfortunately pretty much eliminates all my tanks except one I have never really utilized - Krydle. This is because Krydle occupies bench 2, which is where Celeste and Widdle also reside... and I'm usually using the latter, unless she's disallowed (and being neutral, here she is), in which case I use the former (but here Celeste is also disallowed because her INT is not high enough).
Krydle is actually being an astonishingly amazing tank. I never used him because the idea of a tanking rogue never really stuck with me.
Oh, that's why. For some reason, 85 hp max Krydle is getting a damage shield of 34,700 hp. I can't, for the life of me, figure out how. Everybody else's damage shield max is 7,716.
Oh, THAT'S why. Hi, IMOEN.
Not sure how THAT happened. I can't even fathom how... (checks math)... over 2000 favored foes were alive on screen at once.
Game's buggy, yo.
So, I'm on a patron mission which disallows all neutral champions and all champions with INT below 13, the latter of which unfortunately pretty much eliminates all my tanks except one I have never really utilized - Krydle. This is because Krydle occupies bench 2, which is where Celeste and Widdle also reside... and I'm usually using the latter, unless she's disallowed (and being neutral, here she is), in which case I use the former (but here Celeste is also disallowed because her INT is not high enough).
Krydle is actually being an astonishingly amazing tank. I never used him because the idea of a tanking rogue never really stuck with me.
Oh, that's why. For some reason, 85 hp max Krydle is getting a damage shield of 34,700 hp. I can't, for the life of me, figure out how. Everybody else's damage shield max is 7,716.
Oh, THAT'S why. Hi, IMOEN.
Not sure how THAT happened. I can't even fathom how... (checks math)... over 2000 favored foes were alive on screen at once.
Game's buggy, yo.
The description just says "favoured foe that is alive", not "favoured foe that is alive and on screen". Is this a bug or just the game treating Krydle as if he's being played by a particularly convincing minmaxer?
GasBandit
Staff member
That ability is Imoen's, actually, Krydle just seemed to be benefiting from it in a way that Warduke doesn't.
There must be some other hoodoo at work, because that 3.15e04 number is apparently the base number. Every time a beast comes on screen, it went up. When the screen was cleared, it went back down to that.
Now I'm running a different mission, and on low rounds, the base shield on Warduke is 2,223. Gonna leave it running while I go to work, and see what it is when they're up in the round 400-500 range.
After a strong start with Idle Champions, I grew bored with it after a few weeks. So, I'm back to playing...
Sims 4. God help me.
Sims 4. God help me.
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, there are a lot more sex mods for that than Idle Champions, I'll give you that.
figmentPez
Staff member
Sorry I dropped the ball on that, depression is a bitch. I still think about playing Trine with you from time to time, I'm just bad at thinking about it when I'm not otherwise overwhelmed by life.