Remove ads

A Simple Transaction I

Reader mode
Agh, I'd really like to take Pearlescence... but I'm not convinced we have the space to take this kind of Potential-focused option. Instead, let us become an agile striker! With a bit more defense...
[X] Exhausted
[x] Forebear's Blade - A Thousand Cuts - 7 Arete (0 picks)
[X] Evening Sky - Evening Gown - 7 Arete (2 picks)
[X] Evening Sky - Opalescence
 
Byzantine said:
No? That argument by anyone is meaningless, because it's pointing out a flaw that literally every build will have by necessity of our underleveled position. The only difference is which exact foe can exploit the hole.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
the difference is the probability we face a foe that can exploit our flaws; that's different for every build.
a build that balances offense and defense exploits our intelligence and skill at fighting because we can hang on long enough to use our abilities to strike at their weaknesses. An offense only build can *only* alpha strike their opponent while a defense only build can only exhaust their opponent. only with balance can we fight. Perhaps the specifics of our capabilities make us want to skew the balance one way or the other but balance is the default
 
Orm Embar said:
Iridescence also comes with +Charisma, in addition to the badly-needed buff to Protection. But I mean, yeah, if you're directly comparing an option that costs 1 pick and 2 Arete vs. one that costs 2 picks and 7, of course the latter's going to be more impressive on paper. That doesn't make it an efficient use of our resources.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I was actually comparing gown to pearlescence which at the moment costs us three picks and 9 arete to take and is worse than gown.
 
Ring Greed Voters, have you considered Double Echo + Preeminence? While it wouldn't be the safest option, it does give the equivalent of +.5 Rank, Triple Echo and +Protection in many battles. You'd be weaker against mages but stronger against most fighter-types, and save 2 more Arete!
 
We should consider what tactics we are going for next. If we go to the encampment or attempt diplomacy with the mages as is advisable, then Ring builds are better.

This update and Rihaku's statement has made me conclude that having an adventuring party is a really major buff. We can buff them with Bloodmight, Rank works with them, and while they reduce the difficulty of fights they do not reduce the exp gain from them.

In other words, it's basically chronomancy without learning it. Multiply the speed of one person by 2, or get two people?
 
Shard said:
This update and Rihaku's statement has made me conclude that having an adventuring party is a really major buff. We can buff them with Bloodmight, Rank works with them, and while they reduce the difficulty of fights they do not reduce the exp gain from them.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Plus geometric interfacing synergies from, eg, a dedicated healer + tank to support a dps. However, while they don't affect XP gains much, they do affect RANK gains...
 
Rihaku said:
I can't see the line seperators at all, so while the effort is appreciated, it may not be the best use of your time to annotate them!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
All nullified now, nothing to worry about.

Anyway, Preeminence isn't available from average enemies. There's an argument to be made that we should take it while we can, since that'll put us two-thirds of the way to Ruling Ring. If we can do this just one more time, then we'll be there. Finished and able to harness the effective Apocryphal mitigation of warping the world to our will and benefiting from a Progression increase going forward. It's not as if Dominion: War + Preeminence is a bad combination in the present, either. A full half-Rank and a bonus to all stats, including things like intellect, wisdom, and luck? That's nothing to scoff at. I'm also a tad concerned about what could happen if we reach the Imprisoned Ring without mastering our own.
 
Genesys said:
idk what it is about meows but rihaku meowing non-effort posts makes me paranoid
but I can't really delve the whole thread to find all non-effort meows and find a pattern... (or can I?!)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I've been keeping track of his meows and it seems like he's just using it in place of the other reactions to be confusing. Most of the time it takes the form of a like, such as when someone reacts to the update or votes for an option he's been shilling which is underrepresented. But occasionally it'll replace an insightful or informative like when I clarified to Byzantine what the wording of Pearlescent meant. So you can occasionally get some idea of whose wild guesses are right by the meows he gives out.

Although maybe some of them are just to mess with us and keep us guessing.

Edit: Forgot to mention that he still usually uses the funny reaction instead of a meow!
 
Last edited:
>tfw you take a principled stand against greed only to throw it away in a fit of madness because the thing you covet seems so close

nah chief, not again. not this tantalus shit, no way

just gotta wait for consolidation and vote

[X] balancebro
 
Last edited:
Rihaku said:
Ring Greed Voters, have you considered Double Echo + Preeminence? While it wouldn't be the safest option, it does give the equivalent of +.5 Rank, Triple Echo and +Protection in many battles. You'd be weaker against mages but stronger against most fighter-types, and save 2 more Arete!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Frankly, too greedy to go down that route. But if we did, then I would go Domain Passion and the 1:2 trade option. That would leave us 5 (4 with debt) arete and 1 pick away from Ruling Ring. Would have to work out how to not die in the meantime, but if we went for social encounters it should be somewhat viable.
Rihaku said:
Plus geometric interfacing synergies from, eg, a dedicated healer + tank to support a dps. However, while they don't affect XP gains much, they do affect RANK gains...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Unfortunate, but its not as if we are lacking in targets to get RANK from, to begin with! Safety in numbers should be a good guiding principle, after all.
 
runeblue360 said:
>tfw you take a principled stand against greed only to throw it away in a for of madness because what you covet seems so close

nah chief, not again. not this tantalus shit, no way

just gotta wait for consolidation and vote

[X] balancebro
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

What if there isn't consolidation? It's possible depending on how things turn out! There are quite a number of fairly viable builds being bandied about that offer high degrees of immediate power, after all! It just takes someone to unify them!

Hero-Defeating Stance + Thousand Cuts
Quickening + Thousand Cuts
Evening Gown + Thousand Cuts

All of these offer some variation of the same strategy, with the first emphasizing Strength and Rank, the second emphasizing powerful overall stats for maximum alpha strike while retaining some sustainability in tripled regeneration, and the third offering fewer stats but substantial utility.

There's also Full Blademight, which seems like it might be good against the high proportion of psuedo-casters you've seen around...
 
Orm Embar said:
I'm also a tad concerned about what could happen if we reach the Imprisoned Ring without mastering our own.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
See I'm very much behind that, but I'm also afraid of it because picking up Ruling Ring says it would kick off a contest against nearby rings and I doubt we're just a couple of fights away from that level.
On the flip side though it does want to die, so hey, maybe it'll all work out.
 
Shard said:
Frankly, too greedy to go down that route. But if we did, then I would go Domain Passion and the 1:2 trade option. That would leave us 5 (4 with debt) arete and 1 pick away from Ruling Ring. Would have to work out how to not die in the meantime, but if we went for social encounters it should be somewhat viable.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You'd also need to find an enemy that actually drops Preeminence: Passion...

Shard said:
Unfortunate, but its not as if we are lacking in targets to get RANK from, to begin with! Safety in numbers should be a good guiding principle, after all.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Well, it's downgrading your feat quality for some % of enemeis from Fucking Insane to Pretty Rad.

Mm, it actually kind of is like an XP tax because it reduces the % of enemies that drop Rank for free, and even the enemies that normally would instead require picks to get Rank, so you're basically trading those picks away for the party.
 
Rihaku said:
You'd also need to find an enemy that actually drops Preeminence: Passion...



Well, it's downgrading your feat quality for some % of enemeis from Fucking Insane to Pretty Rad.

Mm, it actually kind of is like an XP tax because it reduces the % of enemies that drop Rank for free, and even the enemies that normally would instead require picks to get Rank, so you're basically trading those picks away for the party.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Passions sounds doable in a social conflict!

However, if it lets us select those enemies to begin with, is it really a downgrade? For example, if having a party reduced Knight-Commander's odds to something without devastating complications or death %, we could well just do a second encounter. It's not as if we are lacking exp to begin with.

Lord Hunger should know of safer-ish ways to grind Rank that doesn't involve a high death% chance! Maybe we can get some from a social encounter.
 
Maybe the reason our memory is so bad is that our personality was consumed by the ring hunger and the character we're playing has really been the ring fooling itself into believing it's a person all along! Suddenly the quest is about existential horror instead and Addio is happy! That would explain why we think of ourself as the ring and the ring as us! That would also open the way to waifu Gisena.
 
Last edited:
Lord Hunger should know of safer-ish ways to grind Rank that doesn't involve a high death% chance! Maybe we can get some from a social encounter.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You underestimate the difficulty / impressiveness of social encounters that grant free +Rank... Even something like I Have a Dream would only grant +.25 - +.5 Rank.
 
[X] Exhausted
[X] Forebear's Blade - A Thousand Cuts - 7 Arete (0 picks)
[X] Evening Sky - Opalescence
[X] Evening Sky - Evening Gown - 7 Arete (2 picks)

dresses are prettier than rings and this gives us the offense we're going to need for the next level of enemies while preserving our ability to employ teamwork
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top