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A Simple Transaction I

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Mhm. We can always try somehow baiting The Tyrant into an ambush. Pretend we are not as strong as we are, leave ourself a bit outnumbered and try to convince him personally taking to the field is an good idea? But dunno if we are capable of fooling someone like him to such degree.
 
Guile-Defeating Stance gives +2 Rank against subterfuge, so with our increasingly absurd base Rank we shouldn't have to worry about a trap for him getting turned around on us... is what I'd say if we hadn't literally just finished dealing with an ambush. Hunger and Gisena did detect something off, but in hindsight it's worryingly impressive that they were in such a bind in the first place.
 
[jk] Write in: Mine enough Arete to get Once and Future and ADS both, and afterwards select an alternative 25 Arete option during consolidation.
 
Previously, we choose Nightmare flight so that we can reach Decimator's mitigation fast! It would be such an waste to not take advantage of it now! Why not try to have your cake and eat it too like Hunger intended by going for Decimator's Mitigation first!? Sure, the Tyrant may grow stronger but can he really match an Cursebearer in escalation? I think not.

The increased mental and social capabilities with ADS/ES would also be helpful in negotiating with the Astral beings we summon, they can be pretty tricky as shown by the Lion, it would be an good idea to not leave any loopholes in our contract that Apo-chan can exploit!
 
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In long term, definitively not. In short and medium term, however... there are precedents.

Well, he probably can't really compete with 2-3 EFB every goddamn day, but idk if we really can maintain that sort of pace.
 
[X] All-Defeating Stance + Exalted Spirit
[X] The Lord Protector
[X] Priority Two

EXALTED SPIRIT!!!!!???
Can't believe it's back! man am i excited for it to lose again :lol:

[X] Equip OAF-Avoiding-Stance and become SMRT
 
If you guys don't want to split the party in the manner described for Decimation, you can always propose alternate party splits! That said, any use of Nightmare Flight will have to split the party since it can't teleport all of Hunger's company simultaneously.

Maybe the real SORD was the friends you made along the way...
 
Not too happy about the choice presentation this update.

Hunger has generated a pick. Where is the option to put it towards a defining advancement with blurb for the supposedly newly unlocked DA?
Why is the Decimation mitigation option asking us to pre-commit to a hunting party before we've looked through the Lens to see the nature of the challenges?
Why is the Lord Protector option asking us to pre-commit to strategies before we've had a briefing on his personality, powers, forces and preferred methods?
All these choices are being asked before we know the physical implications of absorbing the largest building Hunger has ever seen in the middle of the capital city and the immediate tactical position that puts us in.

The votes seem to be getting ever blinder.

[ ] Once and Future I
Obvious psychological fit with [] Lord Protector - no change to ruling philosophy means we continue to lean into the absolute confidence that we can overthrow the Realm fast and then come up with a way to deal with Decimation. OaF strengthens the thematic importance "who rules?" and boosts us most strongly in a military confrontation.

[x] All-Defeating Stance + Exalted Spirit
Not only do the stats boost an indirect approach to the war, so do the powers. Holy Shit! will do a number on the morale of enemy rank and file. The buffing boost from Exalted Spirit will make those we buff even better officers, agents and propagandists. The Fivefold Ruin is an incredibly broad defence that will impair schemes, spells and attacks against our interests. That buys time which is good because our allies need time to plan and act and our enemies to desert and have failures. This slower approach means Hunger could more naturally take a hunting trip.

[x] The Decimation
[ ] The Lord Protector

[x] The Long Voyage
 
We are at Rank 7.9 right now, right?

So that's 8.5 with OaF, 9.5 for military/defense purposes and 10.5 for Bloodcasting. Deduce 0.025 from every number.

Man, our Combat Rank getting higher than our pre-Tears Bloodcasting is pretty nuts. You go from sub High Rink to higher echelons of High Rank. 10+ Blood too.

Wonder if Dominion: War stacks with OaF. It should? That would make that Dominion an acceptable choice, making us actually want to get it, although we are still short on picks.
 
[X] The Long Voyage
[X] All-Defeating Stance + Exalted Spirit

Still not sure on priority, but I do want to finally get ADS given how helpful it's power of ruin could be against the esoteric magic and getting some curse mitigation to deal with Apoc among other things. We're already understatted for our rank which is definitely something we should work on, and Rihaku has said before that mental stat that we're getting a lot of even pre Edeldross multiplier are worth the weight in gold because of how it boosts our decision making. It's probably just what we need in this situation, and I'm pretty confident we'll be able to grab OaF soon after.
 
[X] The Decimation
[X] All-Defeating Stance + Exalted Spirit
[X] Priority Two

Have people forgotten how many innocents are going to die if we don't mitigate Decimator's Affliction soon? How do you think Hunger is going to react to that? This entire gamble was based on him being confident that he can do it all but now he is even unwilling to try to stop Decimation? If we go after Lord Protector first, we are just going to get forced into increasingly desperate attempt to end him in an few days before Decimator returns, that's sounds like something that he can easily use to force us into unfortunate situations and traps!

Lord Protector is powerful but we know he can't take on an legion alone, Erundael should be more than capable of protecting our minions in that time, we can even leave an summon behind like some people planned.
 
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[X] Once and Future I
[X] The Decimation
[X] Priority Two

If our party members are surrounded by a Royalist legion, I feel confident enough in their safety.
 
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[X] The Decimation
[X] All-Defeating Stance + Exalted Spirit
[X] Priority Two

Alright, let's focus on putting Decimation on pause for now. The Lord Protector get's to have a bit of prep time, but does that really matter? Snot like he can out pace a Progression Cursebearer right? especially one who has gotten THREE EFB's in the span of 1-2 days???

I mean, if he can that would be kinda AMAZING, and i would 100% think about allying with the guy NGL
 
I think if The Protector hide form us then we can just defeat his legion.

We can gain power and pick form legion either by sword or treachery,even if The Protector emerge again we already go even further beyond his reach and power.


Can he call himself King if he flee form his kingdom?
 
[X] All-Defeating Stance + Exalted Spirit

Rank is the power one wields.
Spirit is the one wielding it.

And while Rank may allow us to go far faster, mental stats will prevent us from crashing into anything at mach 10.
 
Daily reminder that ADS costs literally 0 picks and that we can get it at literally any decision point, provided we have enough Arete, while OaF costs picks, which are harder to come by, which is why we choose Into The Breach instead of Cut Through despite later saving us precious time.
 
Rihaku said:
Hm... how many times has Exalted Spirit been in contention and ultimately failed to get the vote? Three, maybe four?
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I can't comment (yet) on how often it was "in contention", but Exalted Spirit was offered as a build option in the following updates:
  • throne and alter
    • Defeated by: Fall of Night
  • arisen again
    • Defeated by: Vigor Itself
  • Impunity
    • Defeated by: Fierce Quickening
  • Scarlet Legion
    • Defeated by: Vigor Itself
  • Fleeting Respite
    • Defeated by: Edeldross Adept in a landslide
  • The Provinces, Roused
    • Defeated by: Weapon Defeating Stance
  • The Ultimate Price
    • Defeated by: Knife, Fierce Quickening, Echo of the Forebear, Hero-Defeating Stance
  • The World Your Oyster
    • Defeated by: Inherit the World
  • Mists of Quickening
    • Defeated by: Triumphal Gleam
  • The Hungering Veil
    • Opposing Candidate: Once and Future I

After a slow start against the blood buffs unlocked by +Progression, Exalted Spirit has gone on to lose against some of the most dramatic and powerful blurbs we've ever seen. There's no shame in a loss to Inherit the World.

(There's also no shame in a loss to Once and Future.)
 
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PurposefulZephyr said:
[X] All-Defeating Stance + Exalted Spirit

Rank is the power one wields.
Spirit is the one wielding it.

And while Rank may allow us to go far faster, mental stats will prevent us from crashing into anything at mach 10.
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Actually no, Rank doesn't give any physical power at all. Rank is just world-warping power that twists odds in your favor, which is demonstrated in Rihaku's original example of a difference of 1 Rank in the Middle Ranks (3 to 8) being an overwhelming difference, which means if the two opponents have the same attributes, the person who has higher rank has a 99% chance of victory.

In the High Ranks (8+) which we're entering with OaF (8.475 standard, 9.475 in military matters like combat/tactics), difference in Rank becomes even more stark. A difference of just 0.5 is enough to pose an overwhelming advantage. This is because Rank is a logarithmic scale.

That's why Tears's External Rank stacking with OaF was such a big deal, because it made our non-combatant Rank go into the High Ranks with it.
 
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ReaderOfFate said:
Actually no, Rank doesn't give any physical power at all. Rank is just world-warping power that twists odds in your favor, which is demonstrated in Rihaku's original example of a difference of 1 Rank in the Middle Ranks (3 to 8) is an overwhelming difference, which means if the two opponents have the same attributes, the person who has higher rank has a 99% chance of victory.

In the High Ranks (8+) which we're entering with OaF (8.475 standard, 9.475 in military matters like combat/tactics), difference in Rank becomes even more stark. A difference of just 0.5 is enough to pose an overwhelming advantage. This is because Rank is a logarithmic scale.

That's why Tears's External Rank stacking with OaF was such a big deal, because it made our non-combatant Rank go into the High Ranks with it.
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Fair point, but I meant power in more general meaning. After all, you don't need the strength to rend armies apart if they are just going to fall over on their own through your aura's working.

But, mental stats are nice in their own way. After all, while an opponent may have massive luck, a superiority of mental/social stats may allow to simply avoid them entirely. Also to use one's own rank in more directed way (by which I mean letting this force of cosmic plot-thing to tweak the world to fit our plans better).
 
PurposefulZephyr said:
Fair point, but I meant power in more general meaning. After all, you don't need the strength to rend armies apart if they are just going to fall over on their own through your aura's working.

But, mental stats are nice in their own way. After all, while an opponent may have massive luck, a superiority of mental/social stats may allow to simply avoid them entirely. Also to use one's own rank in more directed way (by which I mean letting this force of cosmic plot-thing to tweak the world to fit our plans better).
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Would you take 5000 in str/agi/con or 1 in wits/wis/int?

Just because something gives mental stat doesn't mean that it's a competitive option. Powerful person will have better choices than powerless one, so other guy being better at choosing doesn't mean much.

OaF is generally better than ADS given that:
a) we invested insane amount of resource into Rank build, which has OaF as it's cornerstone. Crown and Tears were taken specifically because of crazy value they would have once we get OaF
b) ADS is a zero pick, so we can get it at literally any point - most likely next voting point. OaF, while unlocked, actually requires pick
c) great deal of ADS' power lies in our ability to snap-pick it in preparation for fight rather than as reward. We had opportunity to do so in Search and Negotiation votes, for example. Here, however, ADS doesn't benefit from that as we can get standard EFB
d) OaF is just vastly stronger in current situation - if we choose Lord Protector, bigger dick means that we can slap his forces around and that it will be harder to him to come with a way to stop us, while with Decimation we get stronger summon and we can bullrush opposition faster

What makes voting for ADS completely senseless, however, is fact that we can get it literally next fucking vote, while OaF requires us to have pick ready. Like, you are voting for possibility of running into Lord Protector with 30 Arete sitting in our pocket doing nothing down because "Muh mEnTaL sTatS".

Well, I guess that at least Hunger will understand better that skipping Rank day is a bad thing, then, so there's that.
 
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