OT: HFPens Community Lounge: Or Ogrezilla and LOGiK's Nerd Thread ;)

[LOGiK]

I don't always delve into this thread, but I feel compelled to say how good it makes me feel to have Blink-182 back together and making banger songs again. My inner 18-year old feels like a kid again.

I loved the music when I was 18 (you sound close enough in age) it seemed so good and so varied. Social engineering constructs or not.
Still had local bands in the area too. All that has died and black cold lonely death.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I have fireball, I rarely use it for two reasons:
It is wildly inaccurate (maybe my SH just isn't good outside of buff and cursing / silencing / etc)
Even if it connects it has a 2-20 damage range. Not even considering if they have magic defense lowering the probability of even connecting.

That's FireBOLT. It's just a basic cantrip like their autoattack. FireBALL is a big aoe level 3 spell for 8-48 damage (or higher if you use higher spell slots) that even if they make the saving throw deals half of it's damage, and can hit a pretty big area all for that much.

Also yeah Shadowheart has firebolt for some reason (actually there is kind of a story reason I guess) but it's mostly useless on her. It's typically a wizard spell, so it uses Int instead of Wis for her chance to hit with it. It's a dumb oversight that they should honestly fix, because it really should count as a Cleric spell for her.

Like I said earlier I have really splurged on ranged combat for everyone of them. My main's bow BANEs 2turns almost every hit. Karlach has REELING x2, lae'zel no buff but strength modifier towards ranged damage (now the dex gloves from the gith) ShadowHeart has FRIGHTENED x1 turn I think -- but the lowest ranged dmg out of everyone I think, now I'm guessing honestly, but roughly 6-13 or so. Right in the middle of the fire spell and is higher probability of success... no resting or otherwise on those ranged buffs.
Oh, I just read the last two lines of your post, yeah I'm not unhappy with archery at all... usually my main will tear people apart ranged with her mark hunt to boost, but if there are ranged defense heavy then karlach and lae'zel go to melee (which cut enemies down rapidly) I have a few ways of attack I suppose. SH ranged, spells, buffs, de-buffs etc...

At this point I am good at whatever type of damage, but single target was definitely an overall weakness of the team until higher levels for me.

SH just needs her identity I mean... everyone's main is either ranged or melee and specific... she doesnt really have a specific and if I had to I'd say she is just a buffer... if enemies dare to get in close she can unleash that close lvl3 spell and she can run around with it ( haha... i did it in grymforge bruhah it was quite fun)

Cleric is always more of a support class for sure. Going to Tempest or Light lets them be a nice hybrid of support and damage though. Or War cleric lets them be better at actually fighting up front; I bet it's good too. But it seems like you have that pretty well covered.

 

[LOGiK]

1That's FireBOLT. It's just a basic cantrip like their autoattack. FireBALL is a big aoe level 3 spell for 8-48 damage (or higher if you use higher spell slots) that even if they make the saving throw deals half of it's damage, and can hit a pretty big area all for that much.

2Also yeah Shadowheart has firebolt for some reason (actually there is kind of a story reason I guess) but it's mostly useless on her. It's typically a wizard spell, so it uses Int instead of Wis for her chance to hit with it. It's a dumb oversight that they should honestly fix, because it really should count as a Cleric spell for her.


3At this point I am good at whatever type of damage, but single target was definitely an overall weakness of the team until higher levels for me.

4Cleric is always more of a support class for sure. Going to Tempest or Light lets them be a nice hybrid of support and damage though. Or War cleric lets them be better at actually fighting up front; I bet it's good too. But it seems like you have that pretty well covered.

1, oh! silly me =]
2, That would explain it! I use it ignite stuff or environmental more than attack.
3, what you mean, 'single target' as a weakness? I don't understand?
4, Yeah, she is such low dmg but her buffs and spawn weapon and her 'divine' or whatever dialog buff cantrip makes her basically without a doubt integral. Just in a not direct confrontation type of way.

 

[Ogrezilla]

3, what you mean, 'single target' as a weakness? I don't understand?

I mostly picked spells for my casters that hit big groups, so they aren't as good vs a single enemy as they could be. Or as good as a good ranger or rogue would be. In general I think the weapon attack classes are better at killing one guy than spell casters are. So it made me worse at picking off an important target or killing one big boss, but great at killing big groups of zombies or something.

 

[MrBurghundy]

Yeah it’s awesome stuff and they just seem so emotionally into it and honestly just glad to have the chance to be back together. I saw them in Pittsburgh when they came through back in may and they were great. Seeing them again at When We Were Young in Vegas later this month too. Can’t wait. They were probably my first band I was really into on my own and not because my parents or older brother. Like you said, it’s a portal to being 18 again.


I haven’t, no. I plan on using a monk my next play through so maybe then. I’m loving my barbarian/fighter combo though that Crits down to I think 17. With a bloodlust elixir and action surge up I get 7 great sword attacks all with advantage. Or thrown weapons/people and I think I have like 60 ft of movement at this point too.

I imagine they'd be even better to see in Vegas after they've had time to get back into the swing of things together. I was there in Pittsburgh too, and it was awesome.

As for the BG3 thing, I'm on playthrough #2 atm. Maybe on #3 I can give that combo a try. I still need to play Starfield yet too, but I can't stop playing BG3.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I imagine they'd be even better to see in Vegas after they've had time to get back into the swing of things together. I was there in Pittsburgh too, and it was awesome.

As for the BG3 thing, I'm on playthrough #2 atm. Maybe on #3 I can give that combo a try. I still need to play Starfield yet too, but I can't stop playing BG3.

Starfield honestly doesn't interest me at all But my backlog is still a million games deep. So I will probably play at least something before playing this again Maybe the newer fire emblem on Switch.

 

[LOGiK]

@Ogrezilla hooooooo booooooyyyy
I know you didn't take a path I took in the game but man did my party just have a masssssive massive turn of fate.... what I decided to do just really uncovered / exposed a significant turning point for at least one of my part affecting us all... DID NOT EXPECT THAT, wow...
For me, just middling about in areas for extended periods that was the first major shift in the / a story which I'm guessing could have been completely avoided as well... this game is wild.
I can't say anything because it'd ruin anything you may do or haven't done yet in your story.

Oh, I did respect, she was cleric. Only part I bollocks'd up is that I thought I can willy nilly pick my spellbook because they will all be available outside of combat like cleric, ehhhh.... I'll survive but I could have picked a better spell or two.
Also, I am completely REFRESHED in spell slots!! I can keep blissful spore buff forrrrevvvvvveeerrr
I just have to go through the hassle of a re-spec or phony re-spec for 100g, unless, and I am guessing... it gets more and more expensive each go

I had to stop playing to take in all that just happened haha...

 

[Ogrezilla]

@Ogrezilla hooooooo booooooyyyy
I know you didn't take a path I took in the game but man did my party just have a masssssive massive turn of fate.... what I decided to do just really uncovered / exposed a significant turning point for at least one of my part affecting us all... DID NOT EXPECT THAT, wow...
For me, just middling about in areas for extended periods that was the first major shift in the / a story which I'm guessing could have been completely avoided as well... this game is wild.
I can't say anything because it'd ruin anything you may do or haven't done yet in your story.

Oh, I did respect, she was cleric. Only part I bollocks'd up is that I thought I can willy nilly pick my spellbook because they will all be available outside of combat like cleric, ehhhh.... I'll survive but I could have picked a better spell or two.
Also, I am completely REFRESHED in spell slots!! I can keep blissful spore buff forrrrevvvvvveeerrr
I just have to go through the hassle of a re-spec or phony re-spec for 100g, unless, and I am guessing... it gets more and more expensive each go

I had to stop playing to take in all that just happened haha...

No it never changes price to respec. I never thought of doing that lol

You can change the normal cleric spells, but the specific subclass ones are locked with your subclass.

You’re into act two now right? That’s definitely where I got some big character story bits happening too.

 

[Ogrezilla]

@LOGiK I did it, I beat it!

 

[LOGiK]

No it never changes price to respec. I never thought of doing that lol

You can change the normal cleric spells, but the specific subclass ones are locked with your subclass.

You’re into act two now right? That’s definitely where I got some big character story bits happening too.

Yes act II but not the shadow lands. Limbo between act 1 and 2.

Then I can expect this even to be followed by more, yay!

@LOGiK I did it, I beat it!

Well congratulations are in order!
Finishing a long game is always a good moment, finishing a (recent) Larian Studios title IS a an achievement.
Congrats! =]

HOW WAS IT!?!? Do tell, as spoiler free if that is even possible, haha... hour count final level and final gold amount, were you in all pink gear? Details man!!

 

[LOGiK]

MAN.... I have to put money in the bank for an auto payment tomorrow, ITS A (meh) holiday today and all of my braches are CLOSED!!!!!!!!! noooooooo
Guess I will just miss the auto payment, hope it just gets denied instead of over drawing or some load of nonsense that gives me some penalty.
Let it deny, walk right over in the am. Deposit funds. Call up company and trigger payment. Surely no harm no penalty no problem yes?
HEH... if only life was so simple... let us await this challenge.

 

[Zirakzigil]

MAN.... I have to put money in the bank for an auto payment tomorrow, ITS A (meh) holiday today and all of my braches are CLOSED!!!!!!!!! noooooooo
Guess I will just miss the auto payment, hope it just gets denied instead of over drawing or some load of nonsense that gives me some penalty.
Let it deny, walk right over in the am. Deposit funds. Call up company and trigger payment. Surely no harm no penalty no problem yes?
HEH... if only life was so simple... let us await this challenge.

Cant you do it at an ATM?

 

[LOGiK]

Cant you do it at an ATM?

Can I? Never did it before, I can check! Thanks.

@Ogrezilla
Just got my FIRST actual legendary weapon, YELLOW aura... 'THE BLOOD OF LATHANDER'
Wow! Comes with crazy buff towards fiends and undead and on death buff, AND level 6 evocation spell!

 

[Zirakzigil]

Can I? Never did it before, I can check! Thanks.

@Ogrezilla
Just got my FIRST actual legendary weapon, YELLOW aura... 'THE BLOOD OF LATHANDER'
Wow! Comes with crazy buff towards fiends and undead and on death buff, AND level 6 evocation spell!

99.9% sure you can

 

[LOGiK]

99.9% sure you can

Thank you... I will look into it when I go to deposit the funds tomorrow... I just called and did a push on the payment date. Problem solved. Took 60 seconds.
Before that my bank switched online services and I am locked out. Tried telephone services and my pin (possibly a telephone pin different than atm pin) does not work... geez... so I can't deposit to atm not knowing what my balance is, yes I can check there, but there is a few things I need to clear up here haha...

 

[Ogrezilla]

HOW WAS IT!?!? Do tell, as spoiler free if that is even possible, haha... hour count final level and final gold amount, were you in all pink gear? Details man!!

Overall I think Act 3 was the weakest bit of the game I'd say. It has a lot of good stuff in it, but there's also a lot of smaller things packed in so densely that it kind of took me out of the flow of ever finishing quests. Just doing all the little things instead. But the big quests in act 3 are still great, and the ending quests are very good.

Max level is 12. I was there like half way through act 3. I ended up feeling overpowered for most of act 3 aside from the final quest basically. There's another big bad fight where I had to dual somebody and won it in 2 turns and took like 12 damage I will play on tactician level next time and see if that makes the difficulty curve better later in the game.

My save in front of the final boss is at 88 hours, with like 124 hours in the game.

I have 9 pink items between my team, and 5 legendary. I've found more, but they don't fit my builds. I'm sure I have found "better" items but I just love things like my ring that just adds damage to any throws I do etc And it looks like I have about 25000 gold. I actually had a hard time finding people with enough gold to buy half of the loot I have

 

[LOGiK]

1Overall I think Act 3 was the weakest bit of the game I'd say. It has a lot of good stuff in it, but there's also a lot of smaller things packed in so densely that it kind of took me out of the flow of ever finishing quests. Just doing all the little things instead. But the big quests in act 3 are still great, and the ending quests are very good.

2Max level is 12. I was there like half way through act 3. I ended up feeling overpowered for most of act 3 aside from the final quest basically. There's another big bad fight where I had to dual somebody and won it in 2 turns and took like 12 damage I will play on tactician level next time and see if that makes the difficulty curve better later in the game.

3 My save in front of the final boss is at 88 hours, with like 124 hours in the game.

4I have 9 pink items between my team, and 5 legendary. I've found more, but they don't fit my builds. I'm sure I have found "better" items but I just love things like my ring that just adds damage to any throws I do etc And it looks like I have about 25000 gold. I actually had a hard time finding people with enough gold to buy half of the loot I have

1 Sounds good. Relief for me from exploring to every corner of large maps. I guess I'll see what you mean soon enough. Sounds good and can also be a bother, for me, like you say.

2. I am 7 almost 8 after wiping out the entire gith creche and I feel OP here... I don't even have to use any spells or anything, but they aren't technically full strength technically as half are 'youth' but that isn't all true because two or three squads are full tier lvl 5 fighters... they are tough too when they are tough... but I'm just way too strong, plus my stock pile of healing potions and strawberries etc are really coming into play. I just hide and sneak up to their sight line and attack with main archer, stuns the whole group a round and that is enough to wipe them and leave one or so left --- and they hit HARD... as your gith fighter does. Rambling, just wanted to say I feel OP now, in this particular section, past act 1 but not in act 2.

3. You breezed through it! 125 here. Almost same game time.

4. Same... I kind of have to force lathander mace on shadowheart, BUT is built for darkness and undead so act 2 sounds perfect for it with the built in luminate area of 9m, or is it 6m?
FIVE legendary! Ohh sounds cool... and I agree some green stuff is still a more useful choice. I still have that throw damage... and the gith mega greatsword that does radiant damage, psionic damage, and ring damage of acid, is just insane on my gith.

 

[LOGiK]

Watched THE MEDIUM (thai film) and MEMORIES OF MURDER (Korean film) and both were pretty good. The former a horror take and the later a police dark comedy thriller mystery... I dig murder mystery thrillers so that was right up my alley, excellent film. Koreans make surprisingly good films.

 

[Ogrezilla]

1 Sounds good. Relief for me from exploring to every corner of large maps. I guess I'll see what you mean soon enough. Sounds good and can also be a bother, for me, like you say.

it's still plenty big, just denser

I'm not trying to talk bad on act 3. It's more my inability to move past things that slowed me down So I would do a part of 5 different quests but not finish any of them every time I played, just messes with the flow. I eventually started just picking one and sticking to it and it got better for sure. And the bigger quests are cool. Honestly it's probably how much easier it felt that hurt it the most. There were a few really cool quest lines in there, including a couple on some degree of a clock which was cool. But having all the build-up and cinematics of these mega-powerful things and then kind of mopping the floor with them felt weird

2. I am 7 almost 8 after wiping out the entire gith creche and I feel OP here... I don't even have to use any spells or anything, but they aren't technically full strength technically as half are 'youth' but that isn't all true because two or three squads are full tier lvl 5 fighters... they are tough too when they are tough... but I'm just way too strong, plus my stock pile of healing potions and strawberries etc are really coming into play. I just hide and sneak up to their sight line and attack with main archer, stuns the whole group a round and that is enough to wipe them and leave one or so left --- and they hit HARD... as your gith fighter does. Rambling, just wanted to say I feel OP now, in this particular section, past act 1 but not in act 2.

3. You breezed through it! 125 here. Almost same game time.

you definitely take things a LOT slower than I do I think you might have a similar situation to me where you are ahead in levels and aside from a few fights it never really catches back up. I loved act 2 though regardless, and there were some tough parts in there. Actually I'd say the hardest fight of the game was in a big temple of act 2 and really didn't seem to be more than just a little side mission

4. Same... I kind of have to force lathander mace on shadowheart, BUT is built for darkness and undead so act 2 sounds perfect for it with the built in luminate area of 9m, or is it 6m?

I never had that but looked it up, it looks really nice for act 2 for sure.

FIVE legendary! Ohh sounds cool... and I agree some green stuff is still a more useful choice. I still have that throw damage... and the gith mega greatsword that does radiant damage, psionic damage, and ring damage of acid, is just insane on my gith.

yeah some green items just for their specific useful thing were just too nice to ever ditch. I think in the end my barbarian had 4 or 5 items that increased his move distance, he was impossible to get away from

 

[LOGiK]

1it's still plenty big, just denser

2I'm not trying to talk bad on act 3. It's more my inability to move past things that slowed me down So I would do a part of 5 different quests but not finish any of them every time I played, just messes with the flow. I eventually started just picking one and sticking to it and it got better for sure. And the bigger quests are cool. Honestly it's probably how much easier it felt that hurt it the most. There were a few really cool quest lines in there, including a couple on some degree of a clock which was cool. But having all the build-up and cinematics of these mega-powerful things and then kind of mopping the floor with them felt weird

3you definitely take things a LOT slower than I do I think you might have a similar situation to me where you are ahead in levels and aside from a few fights it never really catches back up. I loved act 2 though regardless, and there were some tough parts in there. Actually I'd say the hardest fight of the game was in a big temple of act 2 and really didn't seem to be more than just a little side mission

4I never had that but looked it up, it looks really nice for act 2 for sure.

5yeah some green items just for their specific useful thing were just too nice to ever ditch. I think in the end my barbarian had 4 or 5 items that increased his move distance, he was impossible to get away from

1 oh. I can't imagine how that'd play after being in open woods and big temples so far.
2. I'm sure it's different... close quarters make people respond differing ways.
3. No idea why that is... partially me, partially knowing larian games.... you can walk right by a simple back door sneak attack vulnerability or past a vine or door to a loot room or miss the dog that gives you a clue to a puzzle (just examples) of how complex larian titles are (from d;os d;os2 bgiii) and very interactive. Hard to explain, but you know having played them... you can do things and miss things... so I take it slow (way too slow, but I'm also enjoying it).
OH.. I think one of my hardest fights was on this whole side-area map, way off the beaten road. So I can expect more of that you say in act 2... check! =]
4. yeah, upon finding it I said, 'built for act ii are we lathander?' haha
5. Isn't that hilarious? Mostly archers run away from my barb, karlach, she has MEGA run speed/distance almost twice of lae'zel the fighter (who at this point laezel does more damage with 4 buffs, acid radiance, psionic, which am I missing... eh oh well) who can at times have trouble GETTING to the action points where she is most needed.... so in my current case, Karlach really tanks it up for the party because she can get right into the middle of it and quickly!
That is funny we did the same thing... boy can see move! hahahaha...

 

[Ogrezilla]

3. No idea why that is... partially me, partially knowing larian games.... you can walk right by a simple back door sneak attack vulnerability or past a vine or door to a loot room or miss the dog that gives you a clue to a puzzle (just examples) of how complex larian titles are (from d;os d;os2 bgiii) and very interactive. Hard to explain, but you know having played them... you can do things and miss things... so I take it slow (way too slow, but I'm also enjoying it).
OH.. I think one of my hardest fights was on this whole side-area map, way off the beaten road. So I can expect more of that you say in act 2... check! =]

so you mentioned sneaking, I'm sure that's a lot of it. You sneak up to fights for your stuff. I just charge in with my barbarian most of the time I don't have anybody who needs to sneak attack etc. My fights were taking longer when I had to set up Astarian, but then I killed him

I also only skim most of the books/scrolls etc that I find. And I honestly read the subtitles of most dialogue and skip the voice lines if I'm ahead. So that all moves me faster I'm sure.

5. Isn't that hilarious? Mostly archers run away from my barb, karlach, she has MEGA run speed/distance almost twice of lae'zel the fighter (who at this point laezel does more damage with 4 buffs, acid radiance, psionic, which am I missing... eh oh well) who can at times have trouble GETTING to the action points where she is most needed.... so in my current case, Karlach really tanks it up for the party because she can get right into the middle of it and quickly!
That is funny we did the same thing... boy can see move! hahahaha...

Mobility for the melees just seems super important. Nothing worse than wasting a turn just moving. Wyll runs into that problem a lot for me, but at least he has Eldritch blast from range. In fact he has a set of boots that let him cast Misty Step to teleport once per short rest to help with it. I think it's one of the green items I never got rid of. My barb is also good at throwing things so he almost never has a turn where he can't reach something. I still don't think anything's better than killing guys by throwing one of them at another one I don't think it's the best way to do damage (unless it's off a cliff of some sort) but it's a great way to kill two guys who got knocked down to low HP each.

 

[LOGiK]

1so you mentioned sneaking, I'm sure that's a lot of it. You sneak up to fights for your stuff. I just charge in with my barbarian most of the time I don't have anybody who needs to sneak attack etc. My fights were taking longer when I had to set up Astarian, but then I killed him

2I also only skim most of the books/scrolls etc that I find. And I honestly read the subtitles of most dialogue and skip the voice lines if I'm ahead. So that all moves me faster I'm sure.


3Mobility for the melees just seems super important. Nothing worse than wasting a turn just moving. Wyll runs into that problem a lot for me, but at least he has Eldritch blast from range. In fact he has a set of boots that let him cast Misty Step to teleport once per short rest to help with it. I think it's one of the green items I never got rid of. My barb is also good at throwing things so he almost never has a turn where he can't reach something. I still don't think anything's better than killing guys by throwing one of them at another one I don't think it's the best way to do damage (unless it's off a cliff of some sort) but it's a great way to kill two guys who got knocked down to low HP each.

If it's a battle I know of for certain, I sneak in with my stealthy main archer, pick off their toughest person... and when I sneak in and keep the other party in sneak outside / detached from my main, they are not involved in the fight. so they can sneak in and rip people apart, also sneak attacking usually SURPRISES people for a round, so it's two full go's at them. So yeah, it takes time but not too much time, way more time than your setup, yeah.
I forgot about astarian! I should have handed him to the bounty hunter guy by the hag. Thought I'd use him more.
2. I started to skim books except orders or bloody notes or clue bits. Hey I do the same thing with the subtitles! haha.
3. Mobility does make the most sense for melee.
I have those boots. There are also boots that do not suffer difficult terrain slowdowns.
It most certainly is fun to throw people around and/or throw push them off a cliff or high area. Only problem is throwing them off the map you lose the loot if it's a boss/leader... and the catch is they usually have the most hp and are the best option to push off a cliff haha... I agree with throwing them... on my barb I have a firewine barrel in her inventory, I throw it at a guy and its funny to me... then I dip my weapon in fire (torches or lamps or any fire is just everywhere (especially where i am now)) and boom goes their plan of attack up in flames haaaahaha =]

so.... what are you going to do now that you've finished?

 

[Deport Ogie]

In the interest of keeping a vaguely nerdy theme ongoing, I've decided old dogs can learn new tricks and have started training on Python. It's mostly for work purposes but I reserve the right to start a fancy hockey analytics website and initiate my campaign to eventually become GM of the Arizona Coyotes.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

MEMORIES OF MURDER (Korean film)

One of my favorites. I first saw it on HBO or Showtime (or whatever) years back when I was still in high school or college.

 

[Ogrezilla]

so.... what are you going to do now that you've finished?

I think Fire Emblem Engage is next up for me. It's a good one to play during hockey/football games because it is 100% turnbase and switch is so easy to start/stop anytime. And the story in those game barely matters

Watched THE MEDIUM (thai film) and MEMORIES OF MURDER (Korean film) and both were pretty good. The former a horror take and the later a police dark comedy thriller mystery... I dig murder mystery thrillers so that was right up my alley, excellent film. Koreans make surprisingly good films.

I watched The Firm last night with Tom Cruise. Good movie.