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A Simple Transaction I
- Thread starter Rihaku
- Start date
- Original
Tyrant_Rayne
Probably Not Evil… Maybe
- Location
- Canada
[X] Synthesis
[X] Fourth Sign: Skywards Claim [Vast Empyrean]
[X] Fourth Sign: Skywards Claim [Vast Empyrean]
Zampano
🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
- Location
- Simping for DSB
Tales Beyond Number
Signs Analysis
#2400 Words
This post is brought to you by my indecision, the comically huge discussion modifier from this extended build vote, and of course by Lurkers Like You.
We're being asked to make a choice here without knowing the options for the Fifth Sign of the Empyrean. That's a fair structural decision from Rihaku, because it is a lot of work to write blurbs that are balanced while also crafting an interesting narrative. (We are so spoiled tbh).
On the other hand, the curse of anti synergy is strengthened when we have to make our decisions sequentially and without full information. If we knew for sure that we were going to take Armor Sign next, for example, then getting a fuckhuge laser might make more sense. We could consciously lean in to the walking battlestation idea. Alternatively, getting the Armor Sign might mean could choose a utility option safely, knowing that we are unlikely to die if attacked on our own turf...
Anyway, with the limited information choice that we're making now, I can't see that any one option is decisively better than the others. Instead I'm excited about all of them.
I'm very tempted to grab this one to unlock Squad Tactics as a solution to the Chains of Fate enemy. However, it isn't a silver bullet for the problem, and it might have complications as our allies learn to control their boosted stats. The best reason to take Skywards Claim is to let Hunger share the spotlight with any other party member, imo.
Gisena has come along to many of our fights and been treated as a fragile antimagic field generator. Massively advancing her physical stats would let her implement the Sword of Nullity elements of RW much more effectively.
Letrizia is "a combatant first" even when she is not inside Verschlengorge. Granting her physical attributes higher than Hunger's own would be an excellent way to defray the risk of sending her into the Human Sphere's political meat grinder. If we end up needing to send her home without the group, Skyward Claim would protect her until we caught up with her. Sharpbright would help Letrizia to get the most out of her newfound physical prowess.
Verschlengorge is an Armament and therefore has physical statistics too high to be improved by this spell.
Aobaru recently took a step up along the ISH, and his strength, Constitution, and Dexterity are boosted by True Vigorflame. This spell boosts those stats specifically. Additionally, Aobaru is the main target of the Chains of Fate enemy. In a combat situation, he might be the one in most immediate danger. (Followed very quickly by the rest of the group should Aobaru actually die.)
Aeira is actually the party member that I think would benefit the most. With Shadow Mastery, Aeira has "further enhanced burst Stealth." One tactic that we could attempt is sending Aeira in with Skywards Claim active on a timer. She can wreck face for a while to create a commotion, and then use Shadow Mastery to disengage and hide. Just 15 minutes after she gets away, a second assault of Hunger + Aobaru can hit them from a different direction.
I don't love the idea of casting this on Adorie and then walking away, but that is one way that we could help to pay back the trillion units of mythic platinum that she let us pour into the Cloak of Evening. If we contract for something like a month of boost then suddenly the 'Territorial Commission' option looks a lot better: she can just literally flatten any belligerent enemies. Adorie's Rank seems high enough to use the physical stats without complications.
Furthermore, Conjured Blade has a specific use case for the massively boosted stats unlocked by this spell. Adorie's bloodline has the power to resist Existential Diminishment. Giving her Rank 8+ constitution boosted on the ISH by True Vigorflame and Hunger's Rank 9+ Bloodcasting makes it a potent reagent. Using her literal blood to protect the prosperity of her nation and shelter it from being reduced to mundane fiat currency would be a major political and moral triumph for her character.
For the sake of fairness, I do want to point out that the idea of complications from unwieldy stats is something raised by another sign. Adorie, Aeira, Aobaru, Letrizia, and Gisena all have the risk of collateral damage if they suddenly boosted to Rank 8+ strength. While their parameters right now aren't causing complications by being beyond mortal control, physical stats greater than the most fearsome Republic battle armor do seem like a cumbersome weapon. They probably won't hurt themselves because CON and AGI increase along with strength. But their surroundings and sparring partners might take some unintended damage. (And if we get this sign then we cannot possibly get Veil of Grandeur to skip the part where they have to learn to control themselves.)
There is a lot to like about this option. The thing I noticed immediately is that it continues our loyalty to the [Evening Sky] tagged Signs of the Empyrean. The mixing / matching mini game is likely to have a mystery box at the end, and 7x Evening Sky tags might be more interesting than 3x Evening Sky + 3x Vast Empyrean + 3x Noonday Sun tags. Rihaku-verse tends to reward specialization and commitment to one's unique gimmick.
On the other hand, Trinity was a dramatic reward for spreading our efforts over three Panoply items. The progression of Evening Sky -> Vast Empyrean -> Noonday Sun might have symbolic meaning as Hunger's capabilities expand. Evening Sky into Vast Empyrean is reminiscent of ascending from atmosphere into the void of space. Then Noonday Sun as the final tags would suggest a glimpse of the sunrise from orbit, or even arriving at a far off star. The symbolism of taking three Noonday Sun tags next would suggest that Hunger is claiming ownership of a single planet's entire sky (day and night) before moving on to outer space and in hopes of deepening his rule over the territory he has claimed.
Of course, this consideration is purely speculative. (I really enjoy rampant speculation, but this particular question is still a total black box mystery.) Maybe the tags just decide what colors are dominant in the cloak. Maybe we'll never get seven (or nine) Signs of the Empyrean There are much more practical considerations for this vote!
Deathly Star fills a couple of really critical holes in our build: It's a ranged option(!) and it's a trump card that can end a fight quickly. Our current tactic of dragging everything out into a contest of attrition via Artful Thorn isn't guaranteed to work on opponents who have health and stamina far in excess of our own. Praxis guarantees us a 'meaningful' hit with Artful Thorn but not a decisive one. An attack that strikes along every possible vector of defense at once would likely remain relevant for a very long time, but this attack scales with Rank. We have gone all in on our Rank build, and we're seeing dramatic improvements already. The fuckhuge laser will get continuously upgraded without any real additional effort from us. The merits of this spell as an offensive technique seem pretty clear to me.
There's a little more room to debate whether an offensive technique is what we actually need right now. A fuckhuge laser is an appropriate greeting for the Chains of Fate terminator, after all. Plus we're going to head towards the Human Sphere and I've joked about the need to be able to fight Armaments before the thread will confidently vote for our first social encounter. The fact that the laser is available daily makes opens it up as a really powerful Apocryphal mitigation. It's a panic button and a security blanket all at the same time.
However, there are some problems that will be "bereft of a specific target tonullify" shoot with our laser. For all that the blurb talks about enough power to "cancel apocalypse" we are already a very powerful combatant. If the challenge of the apocalypse involves being very good at killing things, we're already pretty well prepared. From what we saw in the public blurb for the Fifth Sign, there might be really expensive reagents required to use our next Sign. If we spend the Fourth Sign on getting more killing power, the Fifth Sign might make utility applications relatively more expensive. Even if there isn't a reagent cost, the blurbs are getting shinier as we advance. Taking a utility option for the Fifth Sign will likely mean giving up even more impressive combat options.
On balance, my vote leans slightly toward this Sign, but I've still got some enthusiasm in the tank to talk about the next Sign!
The five +s to strength are set to 210% by modifiers, for a gain of 10.5 +s after accounting for stat multipliers. The power of Ruin scales with this strength gain at a rate of 11.25x thanks to Whiteout + ADS. That's a huge increase to the protective power of our defense from ADS.
The five +s to charisma are set to 250% by modifiers, for a gain of 12.5 +s after accounting for stat multipliers. These +CHA are translated directly into +PROT by Vigor Incarnate. The marginal value of each +PROT to Hunger is somewhat small, but the PROT stat is also passed along to our party members by Undying Vanguard. Giving Letrizia functional immunity to assassins' knives when she's outside of Verschlengorge is a goal worth working towards. Giving Aobaru the same protection is necessary for when he does something stupid like jump into an enemy legion to try to impress Adorie.
The five +s to intelligence are set to 160% by modifiers, for a gain of 8 after accounting for stat multipliers. Since we currently have 20.8 INT +s, Veil of Grandeur adds almost half again the total improvement that we've accumulated so far in the quest. Rihaku has repeatedly stressed the value of INT and WIS boosts in the course of devil's advocacy. Having a smarter protagonist improves the strategic options that we have available to vote on. It improves the speed that Hunger can react to surprises in combat. It absolutely will be helpful if Hunger plans to be active in the research process for the Fifth Sign. It might even allow him to have a breakthrough in the Edeldross -> Findross synthesis procedure, or give him an insight that might help Gisena make a connection for the Mage Extraction Problem.
The five +s to appearance are set to 160% by modifiers, for a gain of 8 after accounting for stat multipliers. Since we currently have 6.4 APP +s, Veil of Grandeur more than doubles our the total improvement in appearance since the beginning of the quest. This is not a trivial consideration: Triumphal Gleam makes beneficial elements of Hunger's public image spread further for the purposes of Rank Gain and Tyrant mitigation. It's an unfortunate bias that the public is more forgiving of attractive people.
However, I'm not totally sold on this sign yet despite my enthusiasm for the +stats. The spell itself is poorly targeted towards our current problems, or else it is too precisely targeted at our current problems. Veil of Grandeur perfectly solves Gisena's unwieldy CHA/APP problem, and saves her from having to research a Grace to equivalent to our Skyveil. However, we don't exactly have any other allies who currently have statistics that are high enough to cause negative side effects. As I understand it, we'll cast the spell exactly once, unless Gisena accidentally nullifies it and we need to reapply it. The Teenagers are not struggling with explosive STAT growth right now, so they don't need it. While the spell can be applied up to a billion times, at a casting time of five minutes per person it would take about 9,500 years of actual casting time to fill up that quota.
The practical effect of voting for this option is to trade Hunger's Fourth Empyrean Sign and a trillion units of mythic platinum for (1) dramatically increased safety (for allies) and intelligence, (2) additional research time for Gisena before entering the Realm of Evening where she can't do any more Artifice, and (3) bragging rights for a scene of banter between Hunger and Gisena.
There are situations where safety and intelligence (and additional time in Gisena's schedule) can make a critical difference in outcomes. Taking a stab at Synthesis would be dramatically easier if Hunger is able to see patterns and make hypotheses more efficiently. Extra Protection via Undying Vanguard might allow the party to literally get elbow deep into the Platinum Ore. Extra time for Gisena opens up the space of Artifice for more elaborate smelting equipment, etc.
However, there are also lots of pressing situations where pure intelligence might not be the critical component in overcoming our challenges. Actually confronting the Chains of Fate terminator will require intelligent preparation and personal combat power. Extracting mages from the VR will require a clever plan to avoid the apocalypse and personal fortitude to survive if we make a mistake. It would be a real drag to get an INT boost and then immediately realize that taking a different sign was the smarter thing to do.
As I said in a different post, the outcome I most want to see is a successful Synthesis run. I don't want the Realm of Myth to face Existential Diminishment before Aobaru has a chance to make any real progress towards his quest. I don't want Adorie to think less of usand jeopardize unlocking her bloodline EFB before we leave. Conjured Blade has pointed out that there are some unique abilities available to Team Hunger that can be combined in novel ways. I'm voting Synthesize and Skyward Claim to support the tactics effort post that CB came up with.
There are strong arguments each of the signs, but I think it's worth trying to kickstart real consideration about the Synthesis option!
Signs Analysis
#2400 Words
This post is brought to you by my indecision, the comically huge discussion modifier from this extended build vote, and of course by Lurkers Like You.
We're being asked to make a choice here without knowing the options for the Fifth Sign of the Empyrean. That's a fair structural decision from Rihaku, because it is a lot of work to write blurbs that are balanced while also crafting an interesting narrative. (We are so spoiled tbh).
On the other hand, the curse of anti synergy is strengthened when we have to make our decisions sequentially and without full information. If we knew for sure that we were going to take Armor Sign next, for example, then getting a fuckhuge laser might make more sense. We could consciously lean in to the walking battlestation idea. Alternatively, getting the Armor Sign might mean could choose a utility option safely, knowing that we are unlikely to die if attacked on our own turf...
Anyway, with the limited information choice that we're making now, I can't see that any one option is decisively better than the others. Instead I'm excited about all of them.
I'm very tempted to grab this one to unlock Squad Tactics as a solution to the Chains of Fate enemy. However, it isn't a silver bullet for the problem, and it might have complications as our allies learn to control their boosted stats. The best reason to take Skywards Claim is to let Hunger share the spotlight with any other party member, imo.
Gisena has come along to many of our fights and been treated as a fragile antimagic field generator. Massively advancing her physical stats would let her implement the Sword of Nullity elements of RW much more effectively.
Letrizia is "a combatant first" even when she is not inside Verschlengorge. Granting her physical attributes higher than Hunger's own would be an excellent way to defray the risk of sending her into the Human Sphere's political meat grinder. If we end up needing to send her home without the group, Skyward Claim would protect her until we caught up with her. Sharpbright would help Letrizia to get the most out of her newfound physical prowess.
Aobaru recently took a step up along the ISH, and his strength, Constitution, and Dexterity are boosted by True Vigorflame. This spell boosts those stats specifically. Additionally, Aobaru is the main target of the Chains of Fate enemy. In a combat situation, he might be the one in most immediate danger. (Followed very quickly by the rest of the group should Aobaru actually die.)
Aeira is actually the party member that I think would benefit the most. With Shadow Mastery, Aeira has "further enhanced burst Stealth." One tactic that we could attempt is sending Aeira in with Skywards Claim active on a timer. She can wreck face for a while to create a commotion, and then use Shadow Mastery to disengage and hide. Just 15 minutes after she gets away, a second assault of Hunger + Aobaru can hit them from a different direction.
I don't love the idea of casting this on Adorie and then walking away, but that is one way that we could help to pay back the trillion units of mythic platinum that she let us pour into the Cloak of Evening. If we contract for something like a month of boost then suddenly the 'Territorial Commission' option looks a lot better: she can just literally flatten any belligerent enemies. Adorie's Rank seems high enough to use the physical stats without complications.
Furthermore, Conjured Blade has a specific use case for the massively boosted stats unlocked by this spell. Adorie's bloodline has the power to resist Existential Diminishment. Giving her Rank 8+ constitution boosted on the ISH by True Vigorflame and Hunger's Rank 9+ Bloodcasting makes it a potent reagent. Using her literal blood to protect the prosperity of her nation and shelter it from being reduced to mundane fiat currency would be a major political and moral triumph for her character.
For the sake of fairness, I do want to point out that the idea of complications from unwieldy stats is something raised by another sign. Adorie, Aeira, Aobaru, Letrizia, and Gisena all have the risk of collateral damage if they suddenly boosted to Rank 8+ strength. While their parameters right now aren't causing complications by being beyond mortal control, physical stats greater than the most fearsome Republic battle armor do seem like a cumbersome weapon. They probably won't hurt themselves because CON and AGI increase along with strength. But their surroundings and sparring partners might take some unintended damage. (And if we get this sign then we cannot possibly get Veil of Grandeur to skip the part where they have to learn to control themselves.)
Also, this one feels like a chance to atone for my foolish refusal to compromise and grab Company of the King when we had the chance. (Although, that advancement has requirements that we could still unlock!)
There is a lot to like about this option. The thing I noticed immediately is that it continues our loyalty to the [Evening Sky] tagged Signs of the Empyrean. The mixing / matching mini game is likely to have a mystery box at the end, and 7x Evening Sky tags might be more interesting than 3x Evening Sky + 3x Vast Empyrean + 3x Noonday Sun tags. Rihaku-verse tends to reward specialization and commitment to one's unique gimmick.
On the other hand, Trinity was a dramatic reward for spreading our efforts over three Panoply items. The progression of Evening Sky -> Vast Empyrean -> Noonday Sun might have symbolic meaning as Hunger's capabilities expand. Evening Sky into Vast Empyrean is reminiscent of ascending from atmosphere into the void of space. Then Noonday Sun as the final tags would suggest a glimpse of the sunrise from orbit, or even arriving at a far off star. The symbolism of taking three Noonday Sun tags next would suggest that Hunger is claiming ownership of a single planet's entire sky (day and night) before moving on to outer space and in hopes of deepening his rule over the territory he has claimed.
Of course, this consideration is purely speculative. (I really enjoy rampant speculation, but this particular question is still a total black box mystery.) Maybe the tags just decide what colors are dominant in the cloak. Maybe we'll never get seven (or nine) Signs of the Empyrean There are much more practical considerations for this vote!
Deathly Star fills a couple of really critical holes in our build: It's a ranged option(!) and it's a trump card that can end a fight quickly. Our current tactic of dragging everything out into a contest of attrition via Artful Thorn isn't guaranteed to work on opponents who have health and stamina far in excess of our own. Praxis guarantees us a 'meaningful' hit with Artful Thorn but not a decisive one. An attack that strikes along every possible vector of defense at once would likely remain relevant for a very long time, but this attack scales with Rank. We have gone all in on our Rank build, and we're seeing dramatic improvements already. The fuckhuge laser will get continuously upgraded without any real additional effort from us. The merits of this spell as an offensive technique seem pretty clear to me.
There's a little more room to debate whether an offensive technique is what we actually need right now. A fuckhuge laser is an appropriate greeting for the Chains of Fate terminator, after all. Plus we're going to head towards the Human Sphere and I've joked about the need to be able to fight Armaments before the thread will confidently vote for our first social encounter. The fact that the laser is available daily makes opens it up as a really powerful Apocryphal mitigation. It's a panic button and a security blanket all at the same time.
However, there are some problems that will be "bereft of a specific target to
On balance, my vote leans slightly toward this Sign, but I've still got some enthusiasm in the tank to talk about the next Sign!
The mechanical +stat effects alone are almost enough to override my LASER vote:
The five +s to strength are set to 210% by modifiers, for a gain of 10.5 +s after accounting for stat multipliers. The power of Ruin scales with this strength gain at a rate of 11.25x thanks to Whiteout + ADS. That's a huge increase to the protective power of our defense from ADS.
The five +s to charisma are set to 250% by modifiers, for a gain of 12.5 +s after accounting for stat multipliers. These +CHA are translated directly into +PROT by Vigor Incarnate. The marginal value of each +PROT to Hunger is somewhat small, but the PROT stat is also passed along to our party members by Undying Vanguard. Giving Letrizia functional immunity to assassins' knives when she's outside of Verschlengorge is a goal worth working towards. Giving Aobaru the same protection is necessary for when he does something stupid like jump into an enemy legion to try to impress Adorie.
The five +s to intelligence are set to 160% by modifiers, for a gain of 8 after accounting for stat multipliers. Since we currently have 20.8 INT +s, Veil of Grandeur adds almost half again the total improvement that we've accumulated so far in the quest. Rihaku has repeatedly stressed the value of INT and WIS boosts in the course of devil's advocacy. Having a smarter protagonist improves the strategic options that we have available to vote on. It improves the speed that Hunger can react to surprises in combat. It absolutely will be helpful if Hunger plans to be active in the research process for the Fifth Sign. It might even allow him to have a breakthrough in the Edeldross -> Findross synthesis procedure, or give him an insight that might help Gisena make a connection for the Mage Extraction Problem.
The five +s to appearance are set to 160% by modifiers, for a gain of 8 after accounting for stat multipliers. Since we currently have 6.4 APP +s, Veil of Grandeur more than doubles our the total improvement in appearance since the beginning of the quest. This is not a trivial consideration: Triumphal Gleam makes beneficial elements of Hunger's public image spread further for the purposes of Rank Gain and Tyrant mitigation. It's an unfortunate bias that the public is more forgiving of attractive people.
However, I'm not totally sold on this sign yet despite my enthusiasm for the +stats. The spell itself is poorly targeted towards our current problems, or else it is too precisely targeted at our current problems. Veil of Grandeur perfectly solves Gisena's unwieldy CHA/APP problem, and saves her from having to research a Grace to equivalent to our Skyveil. However, we don't exactly have any other allies who currently have statistics that are high enough to cause negative side effects. As I understand it, we'll cast the spell exactly once, unless Gisena accidentally nullifies it and we need to reapply it. The Teenagers are not struggling with explosive STAT growth right now, so they don't need it. While the spell can be applied up to a billion times, at a casting time of five minutes per person it would take about 9,500 years of actual casting time to fill up that quota.
The practical effect of voting for this option is to trade Hunger's Fourth Empyrean Sign and a trillion units of mythic platinum for (1) dramatically increased safety (for allies) and intelligence, (2) additional research time for Gisena before entering the Realm of Evening where she can't do any more Artifice, and (3) bragging rights for a scene of banter between Hunger and Gisena.
There are situations where safety and intelligence (and additional time in Gisena's schedule) can make a critical difference in outcomes. Taking a stab at Synthesis would be dramatically easier if Hunger is able to see patterns and make hypotheses more efficiently. Extra Protection via Undying Vanguard might allow the party to literally get elbow deep into the Platinum Ore. Extra time for Gisena opens up the space of Artifice for more elaborate smelting equipment, etc.
However, there are also lots of pressing situations where pure intelligence might not be the critical component in overcoming our challenges. Actually confronting the Chains of Fate terminator will require intelligent preparation and personal combat power. Extracting mages from the VR will require a clever plan to avoid the apocalypse and personal fortitude to survive if we make a mistake. It would be a real drag to get an INT boost and then immediately realize that taking a different sign was the smarter thing to do.
...
As I said in a different post, the outcome I most want to see is a successful Synthesis run. I don't want the Realm of Myth to face Existential Diminishment before Aobaru has a chance to make any real progress towards his quest. I don't want Adorie to think less of us
There are strong arguments each of the signs, but I think it's worth trying to kickstart real consideration about the Synthesis option!
[X] Fourth Sign: Skywards Claim [Vast Empyrean]
Going with this for now. I am not really sure I feel strongly about this verses Veil, but I kind of don't want star as good as it is. I might take a deeper look later into the themes of the different sign categories but for the moment it seems like empyrean focuses our power on spreading our power around, noon seems to be specific powerful self buffs that have glory themes, and evening seems as always to be esoteric stuff and at the moment I am most interested in the first.
Going with this for now. I am not really sure I feel strongly about this verses Veil, but I kind of don't want star as good as it is. I might take a deeper look later into the themes of the different sign categories but for the moment it seems like empyrean focuses our power on spreading our power around, noon seems to be specific powerful self buffs that have glory themes, and evening seems as always to be esoteric stuff and at the moment I am most interested in the first.
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
Alright I'll give Synthesis a shot then.
[X] Synthesis
[X] Fourth Sign: Veil of Grandeur [Noonday Sky]
Also the degree to which these signs coorespond to actual, physical features of the world and its sky is certainly intriguing. Does this mean one of the stars in the sky is a literal death star? Can we visit it?
[X] Synthesis
[X] Fourth Sign: Veil of Grandeur [Noonday Sky]
Also the degree to which these signs coorespond to actual, physical features of the world and its sky is certainly intriguing. Does this mean one of the stars in the sky is a literal death star? Can we visit it?
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
I thought it was just a Bill and Ted reference. What entertaining horror is it really?
Threadmark says Tales Beyond Number.
When can we expect declassification?
I really want Veil of Grandeur, because I like general buffs. (Hey, it would even work on Verschlengorge!) There are good points in favor of Liberation, but I'm going to vote Synthesis because backing down from difficulty here isn't very virtuous.
[X] Synthesis
[X] Fourth Sign: Veil of Grandeur [Noonday Sky]
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- Location
- Louisiana
One of the biggest reasons I say to go for liberation is that we are going to have to do this type of thing in the future. A lot. We have to conquer 90% of the human realm, do you think we can peacefully combine 90% of an entire realm? This is the most morally justified imperialism we will ever have, with an actual guarantee to have everyone we conquers life improve, and to provide stability to adorie by placating upset nobles. The only downside is adorie disapproval, but even that isn't enough to warrant a minus in relationship. Synthesis is a gamble, and not even a fun one, that takes up precious research time. It potentially offers picks for the risk of not working, but why gamble on the entire economic collapse of Nilfel when we can just solve the problem in a simple way, that also helps us prepare for our human realm task? If we balk at conquest now we're gonna have a hell of a time with this geas.
Also just a thought, but what if the fifth sign isn't determined by what economic option we pick, but what sign we pick? Maybe the evening mystery box reward is better evening signs? Probably less likely than the economic option since it's explicitly stated the signs mold to our problems, but worth a bit of thought.
Also just a thought, but what if the fifth sign isn't determined by what economic option we pick, but what sign we pick? Maybe the evening mystery box reward is better evening signs? Probably less likely than the economic option since it's explicitly stated the signs mold to our problems, but worth a bit of thought.
I don't believe I saw it anywhere so forgive me if I'm reposting, but some light tactics for Synthesis.
Assuming Gisena is able to make Hyper accurate deductions / actionable speculation on two data points, I believe we have two we could pretty reasonably get to Gisena. Of course letting her spectate the imbuing process of the Myth platinum, either in one of our mines or if necessary a neighbors. We also have Adorie of course, who we know from Gisenas POV is somewhat of a web of magic that is observable. Having Gisena cross reference an Imbuing with Adorie present would hopefully let her see something into the nature of what the 'preservation' portion of the code is.
Besides, what else do those two slackers have to do? I mean really, poor Hunger had to read an entire tome tossed onto his desk by Adorie! Had to search through the darned thing with nothing but Letrizia to guide his world bending rank! It's time someone else stepped up to the plate, and it aint Hunger chief.
Assuming Gisena is able to make Hyper accurate deductions / actionable speculation on two data points, I believe we have two we could pretty reasonably get to Gisena. Of course letting her spectate the imbuing process of the Myth platinum, either in one of our mines or if necessary a neighbors. We also have Adorie of course, who we know from Gisenas POV is somewhat of a web of magic that is observable. Having Gisena cross reference an Imbuing with Adorie present would hopefully let her see something into the nature of what the 'preservation' portion of the code is.
Besides, what else do those two slackers have to do? I mean really, poor Hunger had to read an entire tome tossed onto his desk by Adorie! Had to search through the darned thing with nothing but Letrizia to guide his world bending rank! It's time someone else stepped up to the plate, and it aint Hunger chief.
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I was just refering to it being post 42666. Fear not, Bill and Ted remain unsullied.
I do kinda grasp for content when PAEG time cometh, but that's the nature of the beast.
HoratioVonBecker
Imperfectly Aligned
What's the reference to?
Strange9
hdellaverson@gmail.com
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
This isn't a 'tactic' so much as it 'wild and uninformed speculation', but let's take as a given that the Realm of Myth utilizes something like Exalted's Order Conferring Trade Pattern (for reference: "The Order Conferring Trade Pattern is financial magic, one of the four main layered defenses the Deliberative uses to stabilize Creation's borders against incursions by the Wyld. [...] Through economics, the peoples of Creation are connected by a vast web, dependent on each other and anchored by the magical material most closely associated with the element of earth."). Given that we know some of the metaphysics of the greater Rihaku verse involve exalted style mechanics/inspiration && the parallels between the Jade currency associated with Earth/stability and the Platinum currency associated with maintaining Mythic stability perhaps this isn't even so wild a guess! This doesn't tell us much, but it does suggest that we might be able to replace the Platinum currency with other valuable minerals with 'stabilizing' and 'mythic' associations. Naturally, this would likely require a somewhat different pattern of inscriptions and symbols on the coinage... but we *do* have a Gisena available that would absolutely adore a 15th research project.
Tactics for synthesis, I guess?
Tactics for synthesis, I guess?
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- Location
- a place
[X] Synthesis
[X] Fourth Sign: Veil of Grandeur [Noonday Sky]
[X] Fourth Sign: Skywards Claim [Vast Empyrean]
Going to approval vote for Skywards Claim since I think another Hunger Tier Combatant is a pretty great way to deal with a apocalypse among many other things, especially given this one works off stats and well thus have a lot of benefits from Aoboru's ISH multiplication and Aeira's incredible agility buffs.
[X] Fourth Sign: Veil of Grandeur [Noonday Sky]
[X] Fourth Sign: Skywards Claim [Vast Empyrean]
Going to approval vote for Skywards Claim since I think another Hunger Tier Combatant is a pretty great way to deal with a apocalypse among many other things, especially given this one works off stats and well thus have a lot of benefits from Aoboru's ISH multiplication and Aeira's incredible agility buffs.
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Who is this whiner and what has he done with our boy?
My guy, the reason you focus on fight good is because you've been in situations that were all reliant on your incredible powers to fight good. And now, you have an Apocryphal proc incoming that'll hit you with the spicy 90% power, likely waiting until after Pillars for a month long build up to get maximum i n t e r e s t i n g. We can get you utility after you're no longer in constant mortal peril; until then you had better just take your medicine.
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
Straw that broke the Camel's back scenario?
Lealope
Not yet invincible
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Naturally not, the Augustine fight hammered home how points out how single points of failure can get absolutely turbofucked by the Apocryphal while the Tower arc after we got the 3 EFBs was all about how Hunger was doing the hard carry for his party (until Gisena got the play of the game anyway). But the currently leading option of Veil doesn't really address that and Skyward does so in a flawed way*.
Our current problems are:
1) Voyaging Realm anti-shoplifting protocols
2) Aobaru's mysterious enemy in shadow
3) Armaments
All three of these are best addressed through getting a super precise godslaying death laser. The apocalypse can get cancelled by a more swole apocalypse, the death laser hits across all spectrums, guaranteeing damage to our unknown enemy and its explicitly relevant against Armaments. Since our main worries should be the Apocrypal boosting or sending these threats at us, we should pick something that can directly counter them.
Also, the laser is just plain the raddest of the bunch; I don't think anyone will contest that part.
*rip Companions
Our current problems are:
1) Voyaging Realm anti-shoplifting protocols
2) Aobaru's mysterious enemy in shadow
3) Armaments
All three of these are best addressed through getting a super precise godslaying death laser. The apocalypse can get cancelled by a more swole apocalypse, the death laser hits across all spectrums, guaranteeing damage to our unknown enemy and its explicitly relevant against Armaments. Since our main worries should be the Apocrypal boosting or sending these threats at us, we should pick something that can directly counter them.
Also, the laser is just plain the raddest of the bunch; I don't think anyone will contest that part.
*rip Companions
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Not really - we have +1 Rank when fighting and in High Rank a difference of 0.5 is almost assured victory. So we will buff someone to have stats for Rank 8.6 (we got +0.2 last update) but Hunger is Rank 9.6 combatant. Anything that could give him a challenge will probably flatten the one that was buffed. It is okay (consider it the second best sign after Death Star). Veil is shit - oh wow +5 All(most) Stats to one billion people. In this universe Quality>>>>>>>>>Quantity. Hunger managed to make Nilfel legions kneel to him in a week. The only benefit is that Gisena stops being Purple Bitch and actually invent something to not mind control plebs(simps). (And people actually argue that she is actually not shittiest waifu. Holy shit people have no taste - but they are MAEG gang so it is to be expected)
Hunger has Skyveil so he is okay. Death Star is a scaling ranged(something we lack) attack that requires perfect defense.
I would probably take some break from the thread. MAEG gang usually selects the sub-sub-optimal option and I would really like not to see people get something absolute shit for the 5th Sign (I expect weather manipulation to be chosen over perfect defense because reasons(TM)). See you in two weeks when I would prepare the newspapers mocking the MAEG gang for taking the suboptimal options