OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Given the extent of our injuries, Forment Rebellion + Ennobling may literally be the optimal course. That or Forment Rebellion with Dominion War+Passion or Dominion(Passion)+Fierce Quickening.
This won't exactly be what many like to hear but, we don't have to worry about that now so we can always reserve that pick for later.I like RANK build but what are we going to do if we face undead enemies? At this point with Rihaku warning and Star forge update. I am pretty convinced we are going to face those and RANK doesn't help much against those at all.
Or just SAVE and get Shameless with MDS or HDS.Realization. While we have the wound we got against Avecarn, What Rains May Come doesn't reverse our punctured soul penalty because we got it from overexerting ourselves. We still get respectable protection boost out of Vigor Incarnate and Dominion War brings us to Rank 5 in practice during conflicts with serious stakes. So I'm back where I started.
[X]Cut
[X]Vigor Incarnate
[X]The Ring of Power - Dominion: War
You seem to have thought things through and, if you aren't going to switch to another vote in five minutes or so, I think I'll trust you on this combination of survivability boost and Rank bonus.Realization. While we have the wound we got against Avecarn, What Rains May Come doesn't reverse our punctured soui penalty because we got it from overexerting ourselves. We still get respectable protection boost out of Vigor Incarnate and Dominion War brings us to Rank 5 in practice during conflicts with serious stakes. So I'm back where I started.
[X]Cut
[X]Vigor Incarnate
[X]The Ring of Power - Dominion: War
Yes, but we've also gained power much faster than it does. The Apocryphal Curse can only do so much.By starting a rebellion we have as little of an hope as possible to manage any kind of force capable of standing up against the Temple. We'll have to rely mainly on Gisena and Aeira and god help us if we decide it's too dangerous for them and try to solo things anyway just after rejecting what was precisely a quick and clean (if risky) solo option. And if we wait too much? Apocrypha will ruin our lives, you can count on that, it's exactly what it does and we are in a situation perfectly suited for it.
Vigor gives a tremendous boost to Protection that makes it more likely that he'll survive nasty hits; under present circumstances I suspect it's competitive with the +Rank option even in a straight combat situation.Let's at least get us Rank in that case so we have an higher chance of earning something out of the time we're losing. Vigor is mainly a selfish buff to Hunger with a low increase in charisma, there are situation where it can be useful but we could get so much more out of Shameless right now.
Magic-Defeating Stance - 7 Arete: A Martial Stance of the Forebear. Grants high-grade defensive effect nullification against all hostile effects of supernatural origin, and quintuples the power of Ruin for purposes of cutting through enemy magics. Mitigate all Curses an additional half step beyond the first. This Stance is permanently active until switched for another [Type]-Defeating Stance. One of the pre-requisites for All-Defeating Stance. You may have [Rank/2, rounded down] Stances active at one time.
Hero-Defeating Stance - 7 Arete: A Martial Stance of the Forebear. ++Might, ++Agility, +Wisdom, +0.2 external Rank. Halve the effects of enemy Rank if it is greater than your own. Halve the effects of being outnumbered, if you are outnumbered. This Stance is permanently active until switched for another [Enemy]-Defeating Stance. One of the pre-requisites for Foe-Defeating Stance. You may have [Rank/2, rounded down] Stances active at one time.
Hero-Defeating Stance's Rank bonus does not stack with Once and Future, but taking it does reduce the cost of Once and Future by 1 Arete.
I guess a reason to vote for Reform would also be to give Hunger more farming time then. Can't find much fault in that, even if I feel that even by cutting through it won't end in just one update and we would still get opportunities for getting Arete and (maybe) picks.Yes, but we've also gained power much faster than it does. The Apocryphal Curse can only do so much.
Also, remember that we tend to level up HARD from beating strong opponents- remember how rapidly we outscaled the Outer Temple knights, for example.
Yes, but it does still cost more Arete and helps us far less in any other kind of situation. And considering that combat would be (at least in the immediate term) only a secondary concern if we want to start a rebellion right here and now, I think Shameless is better if we want to go that route.Vigor gives a tremendous boost to Protection that makes it more likely that he'll survive nasty hits; under present circumstances I suspect it's competitive with the +Rank option even in a straight combat situation.
MDS makes you very resistant to Soul Evocation effects(and Immortals are specifically chosen for having powerful Soul Evocation) while HDS gives you scaling 0.2 Rank(so it scales with Crimson), some stats and relevant effects of halving Rank/number bonuses*. They are both very relevant to this choice.Dug up the stances from the Ritual Grounds post to see if this effects discussion/yields any new insights.
Eh, we are going to be attacking with rebellion as well (it's quite possible we will face some isolated strong opposition since the plan is to show how overwhelming we are) and it comes with charisma increase. It's plenty useful and synergistic with Rebellion option.I guess the reason to vote for Reform would also be to give Hunger more farming time then. Can't find much fault in that, even if I feel that even by cutting through everything won't end in just one uodate so we would still get opportunities for getting Arete and (maybe) picks.
Yes, but it does still cost more Arete and helps us far less in any other kind of situation. And considering that combat would be (at least in the immediate term) only a secondary problem if we want to start a rebellion right here and now, I think Shameless is better if we want to go that route.
Yes, but we've also gained power much faster than it does. The Apocryphal Curse can only do so much.
Also, remember that we tend to level up HARD from beating strong opponents- remember how rapidly we outscaled the Outer Temple knights, for example.
Vigor gives a tremendous boost to Protection that makes it more likely that he'll survive nasty hits; under present circumstances I suspect it's competitive with the +Rank option even in a straight combat situation.