For the King: Gnarly Seamen

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The A Team had already destroyed a number of chaos devices when they entered the Obsidian Keep which was guarded by Ferghus and his Royal Droll skeletal band. Baracus easily KOed the fugitive and in an epic rock battle (skele bards are my favorite fight) the A Team destroyed the skeletal band once and for all. Unfortunately the wizard had sent reinforcements to defend the chaos device here, and weakened from those boss battles Hannibal and Murdoch were both relieved of their hearts by a wraith while Baracus was felled by a most terrible foe... a wizard crab!

Yes, it's a bearded crab with a wizard's hat... :P

Meanwhile back at the demon cave, the vampire was just about to finish drinking Dijaam when a harpoon suddenly burst out of his chest, killing him! The stripped captive had been his meal for days now and couldn't quite make out the trio of sailors that had come to her rescue. One of them also was carrying the equally nude and equally alive Esme, and both were taken for a ride aboard their ship and delivered to the safety of Parid.

Queen Rosomon and Hildebrandt were more than concerned at the state of the women but had to ask about the safety of the realm first. "What news of the Sea King?"

"Aye its as ye said," nodded Ahab. "Th'wizard be usin merlings to summon'im to drownusall!"

"It is a good thing these heroes already slew their Kraken," added Nemo, referring to the two women they rescued.

Davy, standing behind them blew out some pipe smoke while scratching his beard. "Wreckin tha temples is only delaying tha ine.. inevite... delayin tha water though."

"Then your task is clear gentlemen," said the Queen rising with regal composure. "You must face and defeat the Sea King."

Insight: "Into the Deep" is my favorite mode in the game which replaces chaos with tides. While more chaos makes things harder, maximum tide is a game over which forces you to be fast. Shutting down the temples delays the tides, but there is only one way to actually win: defeat the Sea King.

For the King: To get a Boat

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The Midnight Woods was appropriately named for blocking out the sun and was home to bats, goblins, kobolds, skeletons and ghosts. It was the perfect place for Ferghus to hide his vault of embezzled funds which he acquired in his new position as the Farhul boating manager (turns out being a blacksmith didn't work out for him), but he didn't count on having a trio of brothers from Dragonarm raid his vault, defeating his trio of skeletal bard guardians (yes, musical skeletons because Ferghus is cheap)! Vowing vengeance, there was little more he could do than hide from the law and hide from his failure...

Skeleton guitarists are awesome!

"Sorry, no one is working until we get paid," said the clearly grumpy dock hand as he sat idle on a barrel. "But I need a boat to find my sister!" argued Lucia in frustration, to little effect. She returned to her two companions with the news.

"It's alright little one," said old man Sahkarov, a retired soldier who had helped Lucia recover from a near death experience. "There are other ways to get a boat."

Sunbro, who now served as Sahkarov's guardian, smiled and nodded. The man was always quiet and had a strange practice of praising the sun each morning, but he had a muscular build that was befitting a tournament champion. That strength would soon be needed as the trio found themselves a rowdy tavern hidden in the woods. A tavern full of pirates spending their ill gotten gains!

"Gentlemen," Sahkarov announced as they entered the establishment. "I need your ship."

"Ye can't afford it mate!" laughed one with missing teeth. His fellows heartily joined in. Sahkarov smiled quietly.

"I wasn't asking."

Before they realized in, Sunbro was upon them - smashing heads into tables, breaking limbs in manners that they should not bend, and ripping apart jaw bones with his bare hands. Lucia looked on in shock.

"You disapprove?" asked Sahkarov, still standing at the doorway with his hands clasped behind his back. He smiled as Lucia was unable to answer.

Insight: "Gold Rush", which takes place in the Midnight Woods, is actually the competitive mode of the game in which your three heroes work against each other. Ironically, it also is a great place for beginners to get the hang of the mechanics before having any time limits imposed on them - which happens on most of the other modes.

Tales of the Blight: Aftermath

[Part of my Dragon Age: Origins play through. Spoilers ahead!]

With no one on the throne again, Queen Anora quickly claimed it as her own and held a celebration to honor our victory. I also convince her to strip all lands and titles from the Howe family and give them all to the restored Cousland line, namely to Lord Ferghus Cousland. Yup, my big brother somehow survived and sat out of everything but is a-ok now. I bid him and Oghren, who decided to become a general in the Queen's army, farewell to continue my travels elsewhere with Quickly and Leliana.

In the months that followed the Queen proved to be a good ruler for the people, even providing the Dalish with new lands to settle in but the untrusting elves remained restless there. King Harrowmont didn't fare as well, isolating the dwarves further from the surface. He tried rebuild the Anvil of the Void to catastrophic results and was under threat of an exalted march by the Templars for harbouring free mages. Eventually he was killed by poisoning.

Knight-Commander Greagoir retired and died of old age while Arl Eamon had another gifted child. This one he gave to the newly built Circle of Mages as his wife Isolde died during the birth. As for Ferghus I heard he didn't make such a good lord at all, hitting the drink pretty hard and breaking things left and right. Eventually he left for a different land to become a blacksmith of all things! Well it's been awhile since I've seen him. Maybe I should go pay him a visit?

90%(?) chance of repairs! :P

Here ends the Tales of this Blight. Maybe it will continue it one day.

Tales of the Blight: Rail Roaded

[Part of my Dragon Age: Origins play through. Spoilers ahead!]

It's a busy day in my home of Cousland Castle as everyone is preparing to fight the darkspawn (monster things) to the South. There's also a grey warden named Duncan here looking for recruits and asks what I think of that. I shoot him down immediately. Grey Wardens? Please. I'd much prefer to stay in the castle and bed all the visiting ladies and handmaidens, or just maidens in general. After getting my cute but effective war dog (who I name "Quickly") out of the pantry I do just that with an elf lass named Iona but our fun is interrupted when an arrow finds its way into her head.

Why didn't you dodge!?

Our supposed "ally" Arl Howe decided to attack once Ferghus, my elder brother, took the majority of the troops ahead to the battle. With only a handful of defenders it is clear the castle is falling, despite me thoroughly killing all enemy soldiers on the map I can find. Fortunately there's a secret passage to escape the carnage, but only Duncan, Quickly and I make it out alive. Duncan asks again if I can join the Grey Wardens since his other choice sort of died earlier. I strongly tell him again "NO" and then he goes all legal on me enforcing conscription. Way to railroad me dude. I suppose that's still better than the Witcher's Law of Surprise.

And so it's off to Ostagar to fight the dark spawn. Woo? At least Quickly doesn't seem bothered by it.

Projects and Journals

*Note: As of 1 July 2017, all the below have broken images courtesy of being burned by Photobucket. You can find my new Project and Journal page here.

ADVENTURE JOURNALS
My little library of "books" regarding my in-game experiences and adventures.
The date beside each is when it was last updated. :)

Nameless (Creative Writing Experiment) [16 June 2017]
Skyrim's Adventure Journal [9 Jun 2017]
Tales at the Bonfire [28 Apr 2017]
Photo Story Folder [10 May 2016]
The Darklands of Arkania [25 Apr 2016]
Odd Jobs of Neverwinter [18 Mar 2016]
Sunset Six [5 Nov 2015]
Sojourn at Entropia [6 Jul 2015]
Ambitious Dynasty [29 Apr 2015]
The End-Times [23 Feb 2015] 
Tales of the Blight [19 Nov 2014]
Revista de la Presidenta [17 Oct 2014]
A Touch of Wizardry [16 Jun 2014]
Sacred: Journey Journal [29 May 2014]
Diary of a Marked One [10 May 2014]
Dead Island Diary [26 Feb 2014]
Explorer of Tyria [20 Oct 2013]
XCOM: Defenders of the Earth [28 Jul 2013]

CREATIVE WORKS
Here is a repository for some of and my (and my guild mates) creative works online. Really should work on putting more of my stuff out there.

MMO Design Folder
NBI 2015 - Poetry Slam Compilation
The Forge of Winter (Neverwinter Online Foundry creations)
The Golem City (video preview and book by Timothy Andrews)
NBI 2014 - Artists of May
NBI 2014 - Poetry Slam Entry
Ode to Mabinogi [Pic Heavy]
NBI 2013 - Poetry Slam
Wizardry Online: Cartography Project
Recipes to Disaster
Ferghus Commercial (youtube)
Dragonarm Chronicles Chapter 1 (flash)
Tribute to Equilibrium (flash)
Omega Guardian Project (by DL)
Dragonarm Chapter 1 (Neverwinter Nights Module by DL)
Random posts tagged with "Art"

Generation 11 Tips (Part 3) - Snakes. Why did it have to be Snakes?

Good news, if you're reading this you have already gotten past the "hard" part of the main arc and the end is nearly within reach. There is another extra mission though for those that love the babysitting castle run... extra annoying that is. :P

Showdown at the Castle (solo only)
You'll need to take care of some idiot python dudes first (beefed up but same AI is same AI), and I think you can call for dragon support to speed things up. You also have a big area to work with so archery skills are a bonus. Pick off those shamans first. Eventually the boss and his enterouge will spawn, deal with his minions first via range or lure the main guy away for one on one time. He should be easy enough to read to fend off until he uses his death shadow attack, which you strangely -want- to be hit by three times. you quickly use your shadow stone as soon as that happens though or you will really be dead. After that you will have perma-demi for the remainder of the mission and a new found (and very useful) power which you should use to slay the fool. Back it up with spears of light to speed things up but don't let him hit you with his shadow attack again.

Caliburn Pass (bring team)
With their leader dead, you should bring a team to chase down the remnants of the Python army. One NPC idiot will be with you and he needs to live against the huge number of baddies but this won't be so hard if you have a big group. This force is led by a python wizard (behaves like a shaman) has advanced heavy stander and cannot be knocked down/stunned so be careful when you final hit him as he can and will fight back. Use demi and trans as you see fit, and if you manage it you can also eliminate one wave using a dragon strike - just look out for friendly fire.

At least they're not on a Plane! (solo or with royal alchemist)
Now you have the finale - no not against those 4 shaman guys, against the 4 giant snake heads that appear after you kill them! I hope that by now you've got Rank 1 smash because that will come in really handy (and timely, you're on the clock) - in fact it is the only skill you need here. That's right, you just need to be the Hulk. Bring enough stam pots to let you keep using it along with the rest of your regular finale gear and try prioritize "downed" heads to deal real damage to them. The key to surviving is not getting hit! DUH. :P Fortunately the snakes follow a set pattern which should keep you ahead of their quite lethal breath attacks which come in two main variations:

Fireball - they launch projectiles exactly where you are standing. How to ever evade this? Oh yeah, just MOVE. Easy. May as well load up a smash while doing so, and if you feel like - sneak a smash in before the next attack begins.

Rivers of Fire - this is the one you really want to avoid as it is almost insta death to get hit. There are always safe spots to stand when they do this, it is just knowing where to be. They fire three of these in sequence (and I'm not kidding, it always follows the same sequence - after sequence III it goes back to the first one) so you can predict what's next. Generally it's not wise to attack them while they do this as you need to be thinking of the next safe spot to stand in.

General Behaviour:
Fireball (x2) . Resting (smash em) . Flame Throwing Pattern (see below) . Resting (smash em) . Fireball (x2)

Attack Sequence I: Circle, Cross, Circle
On Circle: Stand in the middle of the circle to evade.
On Cross: They are breathing at the head across them, so stand to edges of the screen not occupied by giant snake heads.

Attack Sequence II: Up or Down, Cross, Up or Down (opposite of 1st)
On Up or Down:  Stand on the left or right edges (remember the screen is at a slight angle) not occupied by giant snake heads.
On Cross: They are breathing at the head across them, so stand to edges of the screen not occupied by giant snake heads.
Recover: This is the only sequence where if you are standing on the left or right edges at the start, that you can get a breather to demi/trans or bandage as you don't need to move for the duration.

Attack Sequence III: Left or Right, Circle, Right or Left (opposite of 1st)
On Left or Right: Stand on the top or bottom edges (remember the screen is at a slight angle) not occupied by giant snake heads.
On Circle: Stand in the middle of the circle to evade.

Going for a Party Dress
After those giant snakes you may underestimate the little castle rats in this mission. They will be levelled to match you, so expect them to survive your first combo. Other than that, they're just rats. :P

Suspicious Rumor (solo or with royal alchemist)
Oh good, now you get to meet the 2nd most horrible "normal" spawn in the shadow castle (blinkers still worse)... sulphur spiders. These multi-aggro bastards are tough, do high damage, can take a beating, and enjoy spamming their deadly windmill. The non-colored ones are weaker, but tend to explode upon death. Be ready to heal/trans/and demi as needed, and use a shield if you are planning to use turtle defense. AoE summoned pets are also useful especially if they pin you to a wall.

Getting some Support (solo)
Just a really long castle mission here with nothing you haven't beaten before (no spiders, yay!). Bring gear to recover and look out for those wandering blinkers (damnit!).

Another Secret Experiment - Weapon X (solo with one NPC)
Oh man, you are really going to hate your stupid, suicidal friend here as he will probably die a bit to the many sulphur spiders in this mission. Just kill them as fast as you can and heal the fool when you are able. Say out loud the phrase in the secret note you found in the final chamber to access the second part. If you make it here then at least your pal will be fully healed and he actually does better against the enemies here (no spiders) but you should still help him out. Have the Brionac ready in your secondary slot once you reach the boss room because Deadpool (he's back!) can aggro you from very far away. Fastest way to beat him is to demi-god and spear of light him twice (with Brionac in your hands to increase damage). A drawn out battle is not good for the health of your allied NPC.

If I were a Rich Man

My sixth Mabinogi lesson! To find what other classes are available please see the binding post. :)

You are Gold!
Gold is the main currency in Erinn and it will come to you from all the previous methods[link] (other than aging and rebirth) as well as from slaying critters and opening treasure chests. Note that your Luck stat can affect how much gold appears in both those cases. You can also make gold by selling goods to other players - it will require a paid account to setup a shop in town, but it is free if you are advertising via party sign or the trade forums on your chosen server.

Fomor Scrolls and Hunting Quests
Collecting 10 fomor scrolls can earn you some extra gold, as can hunting quests that are available from a few npcs - though those tend to eat up a bit of space. Scrolls that you should always collect are: mimic, skeleton wolf, and metal skeleton (while doing g1 anyway). There are many others, but which to collect depends where you most often hunt.

Ferghus
Cheap repair can save you a ton of gold later, even better is if you use gear that is cheap to repair especially when starting out. Wooden blades are very good for this purpose and pretty easy to come by so you won't mind if Ferghus breaks them from time to time. ;)

Farming
Another way to make a decent profit is by renting a farm at Taillteann. Blatt the farmer has 90 plots per channel (remember where yours is) on offer which cost 30,000 gold to rent for a week plus 500 gold for whatever type of seed you decide to grow. I suggest tomatoes for your first run as they are the easiest to manage and even if you somehow stuff it up by performing very few actions (of the 10 you are allowed to do per real day) you should still at least double your investment. When I was doing it I was making around 220,000 per week, and that was with a lot of competition (less people are farming these days). Given that your bank account funds are shared between your characters it is an idea to have one of your mules tending to it once every 20/30/40 minutes (depending on your last action) while you continue to build your main for the majority of your play time, rather than having him constantly hop back to the farm to "poke" it himself.

Currency of the L33t
While fomors carry gold it is not actually their main currency - they use it to distract a large, gold eating monster you will encounter a few times in the game. Instead, they trade with Ducats and now that some of them are "good", will happily trade them with you too! They can be used to buy some pretty nice things but the catch is, unlike gold - it cannot be traded amongst players and can, as of this post, be earned in one of two ways. For a newbie though I do not recommend either till you are confident in your combat ability.

Merchanting
Moving goods from between trading posts is the main method of earning ducats. As a bonus you also get gold and exp for successful runs. Your first few thousand ducats are often best spent purchasing cargo carrying options from the travel ogre as they will always pay themselves off rather quickly. The main problem with this is that while doing this you become a target for bandits and, given that you will be at 50% combat efficiency when moving goods and will almost always face a multi-aggro situation, it could be a painful experience. I recommend moving as a group to at least have support especially when bringing elephant-loads of goods. Some people even offer their services as caravan guards - a good idea on some routes. Remember too that trade between Dunbarton, Cobh, Belvast and Scathach Beach will yield zero profit so you can't rely on the safety blanket there.

Bandit Hunting
This is for veteran players only - the bandits they will be facing will always be of veteran or master level and the bandit bosses themselves are quite overpowered (stronger than some generation bosses) and can only be faced one on one. Best to avoid this until you are sure you can take them on.

Secrets to NX
Not really in-game currency but Nexon Cash is sometimes the only way to get useful things such as pets or spirit weapon repair potions. If you are a cheapskate like me and don't want to spend real money getting NX there are still other ways available to you. Obviously being "gifted" NX by someone else is nice, but Nexon often offers free methods to earn NX via watching trailers, filling out surveys, winning competitions, and random lucky picks. Keep your eyes open on their main page and forums for these opportunities.

My kingdom for a Horse
I cannot stress enough how useful having a pet is. If/when you get your hands on some NX they are perhaps the first thing to spend on. Make sure you research first into what you need! Do you need to speed up transportation? Need more inventory space? Or just want something that can kick butt? Most people go for a mount first. I went with a minibear because I didn't mind to jog everywhere nor need lots of space. Regardless of what you get, you should train / level up your pet ASAP. Fastest way would probably be with help at the black mongeese again, but remember you should be playing -as- the pet yourself to reap the most benefits (with or without help). While playing as your pet you will also no longer see enemy skills. This is good training for you (the gamer) too, to read your opponents without relying on that bubble.

Furthermore once you start using your pet in combat you should optimize its AI to better suit its role. Not a coder? Don't worry, there are many kits already setup out there for you to cut and paste - just have to find them. This is the one I use and in one on one melee, my bear now rarely loses so I can just send it off and not worry about it as it will take care of itself. For the record, it still does more damage than my higher level thunder dragon. ;p