- Location
- Rivendell
If the guys we are facing here are meant to separate the metaphorical wheat from the chaff, will the Eminem's further within take that wheat and grind it into flower? More seriously, this title makes me think that we will end up finding some sort of plant monster further in this area, because what kind fantasy dungeon garden doesn't have killer plants?
This temple is such a crazy place. We have already seen stuff that suggests it's bigger on the inside, but we have no idea how much space or variety there might be inside of it. For all we know, it could go on forever!
Poor Hunger, denied once again the opportunity to fish! Not that this is the time to fish, though. I wonder why there aren't any fish. Could it be that this garden is purposely kept free of animals by the knights that live here, or are there just not really life forms in this temple besides horrifically deadly monsters?
A good question. It's going to suck if we run out supplies, and it turns out that there isn't food available in this temple. I have suspicions that all of this is illusory to some extent, just going by the name of the temple, so it might turn out that, even if we find something we could theoretically eat, it might not be 'real' enough to satiate us!
Interesting to see that these guys have some sort of genuine intelligence to them. I wonder if they are fully sapient, or if they are merely limited to an animal sort of cunning, instead. For that matter, I wonder if their ability to coordinate reinforcements means that they have some sort of civilization, or at least a higher power that organizes them.
Talk about something coming out of left field! Poor Hunger, though, that thing can't have been what he wanted to see at the end of a long day of hunting knights!
This thing is nearly as fast as Hunger, and quick enough at accelerating from resting position to get the drop on him! What a terrifying foe to face after all this hunting.
The real question is, does this worm have the spice?
That's right, Hunger, don't ever back down! Cultivate that stubborn refusal to die, we'll need it if we want to avoid ever having Form of Rage fail to trigger.
Man, Hunger, you really do like to compare everything to the Tyrant, don't you? I suppose it makes sense, given that he was your greatest enemy for most of what you can remember of your life, but I feel like this is sort of taking it overboard. Not everything has to be about Him, you know? Once we get you to civilization, we should probably take you to a therapist for all this trauma.
Ah, the classic 'feed yourself to an enemy and kill it from the inside play'! Reminds me of Ryuugi's The Games We Play. What a crazy ride that was.
And here we Evening Sky's true strongest ability - the ability to be a night light! Who needs night vision when you've got a sick, glow in the dark cloak?
The Forbear's Blade is so ridiculously good. I am so glad we took it all the way when we were picking lesser remittances. Imagine how much it would suck to have to kill this thing the normal, instead of using our defense bypassing, soul stabbing sword. Not to mention the use of having having an infinitely repeatable one cost pick available to us in Echo of the Forbear!
And there goes its vomit reflex. I guess we are stabbing it in the giant worm equivalent of the uvula?
I wonder if we can eat this thing. It tried to eat us, it's only fair if we turn the tables, right? Who knows, we might even get some benefits out of it, if the fish is anything to go by.
It costs two Arete and leaves us almost dead - this is hideously expensive for an extra pick and only makes sense if we want to grab Stranglethorn right now.
Although we can't take Stranglethorn with these, having three picks and a mandatory echo is great by itself, even ignoring the net 3 Arete and the fact that we will be in better shape. Worth noting that this and Dreadnought's Bearing gives us the same amount of +Con as Stranglethorn.
The classic! Not too much to say about - always good, if not always the best.
Another cheap and useful option! Not likely to see action today, though - we have got access to much more expensive and juicier options.
Ah, if only you were War! While it's good for healing us, it does little for our actual combat ability at the moment.
Rank is called the god stat for a reason! Even if it isn't the flashiest pick, we can never go wrong with more Rank.
A pure potential 7 Arete ability. The flexibility this provides is insane. We can make healing fruits, stat boosting fruits for all our party members, and all sorts of crazy effects. Unfortunately, the Apocryphal Curse means that Hinger won't be able to take this and retire to an idyllic life of fishing and farming, but hey, that's life when you're a Cursebearer.
Oh man, this option is so crazy, and it has amazing synergies with Form of Rage. Seven Con, a bonus protection, a fifty percent stacking reduction to Tired, a twenty five percent stacking reduction to Exhausted, and then some more brain stats plus getting either or eye and our aim back to To Shatter Heaven applied to ALL magic systems! We have already seen Iron Curtain, too - making that form permanent, instead of requiring us to get tired for limited use of it, would be a crazy synergy. In my opinion, this is by far the best option we can take right now.
Another really powerful option! Unfortunately, it doesn't help us defensively unless we sacrifice our arm permanently, but there is something to be said for the raw, overwhelming power to end every fight in a single blow, especially if we take this and A Thousand Cuts to further multiply our ability to alpha strike everything in existence.
A powerful option! Unfortunately, we would have to pay two Arete and a lot of additional damage to take it right now. Gives more raw stats than any other options on the table right now! A bit anti-synergistic with all our Agility, though, especially with how Agility was the stat that carried us against the knights here. Also means we can't get a seven Arete cost this update, like we were initially hoping.
Bonus Arete, and an apparently decent chance to find something we can fight without dying or going into Form of Rage! Still is pretty risky, though.
The go back and heal option! Hopefully the door opens normally and we can leave, because I have a feeling that we will be in for a terrible night if we have to hack our way through the door.
A reaction for the Arete furnaces! (1185 words)
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. This build gives both offensive and defensive potential, as well as sets us up for long-term temple victory. Only risk is that we get attacked on the way back to the antechamber by something that won't trigger Rage if it kills us. That's unlikely, but not impossible.
