Pathfinder: The Headless Child

[Part of the Party Time journal]

Following the voice the party comes across a chapel to Lamashtu (again?) within which are the four remaining missing people from Sandpoint: the adults tied to stakes and blades rigged with ropes being held up by the young boy Dario who looks like somethings been munching on pieces of him, missing an arm among other things. A laughing evil voice asks which one they want to save and Valeros uses his helm of teleportation to get right in there only to find it is mostly an illusion conjured by two half lion lamias! The first one smashes him decently while the second bites off and devours Dario's head, who alas, was not an illusion. 

The Lamia's mirror images are really the only thing keeping them safe as once those are removed they fall quickly, with the last one trying to retreat but being blocked by Kyra's wall of stone while Merisiel backstabs it to death. A patrol of four giant guards then storms in from behind them but Valeros' flame thrower and Razmus critical hammer blows erase them from existence before they can do much. 

After looting they proceed towards the next roaring sound they hear and find a pair of chained young red dragons who demand to be let free so they can eat the humans. Ezren responds by dropping an ice storm and cloud kill on them, and they respond by breathing fire which Merisiel dodges completely while Kyra heals those who don't. Shoanti archery and Valeros' dragon slaying blade end the weakened winged lizards soon after letting the team proceed around the corner to the prisoner preparation chamber where they find the remaining trio of tortured Sandpoint prisoners chained. 

A massive giant springs from hiding from the mud, smacking Merisiel hard but is taken down in one round with a combination of Joe Gang and Shay's archery and Ezren finally landing an empowered disintegrate spell. After freeing the captives and resting again they receive a magic message to meet with Conna at a nearby altar where she reveals that she's delivered the forged orders and advises them that the password for the shining door probably lies in the black tower above. She also mentions the giant defenders are massing a defense at the ramp though, and offers to try keep the prisoners (including the beardless dwarves) safe and hidden. 

Pathfinder: The Shining Child

[Part of the Party Time journal]

The explosion seals the cave passage behind the party, so they take the time to rest up until a very animated and friendly bat ushers them deeper in to its master, an equally suspiciously friendly giant named Conna who happens to be the mom of the current giant king Mokmurian who she says has been possessed by some evil and now must die. That's pretty dark, but we'll take it! Conna draws out a map of this lower level as best as she can along with the guards and traps within, and due to her hesitance to fight her kin Valeros asks her to deliver forged orders instead.

The rescue prisoner mission is switched to kill the king guy instead so the team makes their way along a quieter passage taking down a trio of ogre tanners and two stone giant smiths who were keeping half a dozen beardless dwarves prisoners. Merisiel sets them free and they join the team as they take out two giant trolls guarding the passage down to Mokmurian's lair but it is blocked by a huge, ancient and clearly trapped glowing door.

Razmus chucks a boulder at it but that just angers the spirit within, a screaming shining child that teleports right into the party's midst and blinds everyone but the Shoanti, Shay and Razmus. They, along with Kyra's summoned elephant and Valeros' blind fighting skill eventually smash the spirit but the door remains unchanged. The party takes cover to rest again and for Kyra to cure blindness when they hear a noise from a nearby tunnel. A call for help?

Pathfinder: Climbing up the Back Door

[Part of the Party Time journal]

Night falls as the team moves along the ravine to make it beneath some cliff facing caves that Razmus marked on the map, the lower one of which is a wyvern nest that he has a personal grudge against (since they were sent after him before) so the current best climber Valeros goes up to fix some ropes and then tosses one of his flamethrower alchemist fire fuel cans like a grenade to light up a pair of the winged bastards before five foot stepping off the cliff behind him - falling slowly thanks to the feather fall ability of the cape of the eagle (from Vault No. 3).

The wyvern pair fly out in a rage but fail to hit any of the team waiting below and are subsequently arrowed by the Shoanti Squad and back stabbed by Merisiel. A larger wyvern still waiting inside the nest is speared down by Joe Gang and then the team rests up to recover HP and spells before Valeros does a big climb to the next and much higher cave which contains giant undead spiders piloted by little spiders? Since this party is ultra-tuned to face undead the enemies are quickly obliterated by holy magic letting the team proceed through some narrow tunnels through which Razmus has to squeeze, though Valeros gives him the cape of the eagle so that he can just transform into a bird if it gets too tough.

He doesn't end up needing it as the cavern opens up a fair bit and a band of nine Redcaps (evil dwarves) ambush them! Their small size hides their toughness of -10 damage resistance which means taking them down heavily relies on the magics of Ezren and Kyra, Razmus' and Kyra's celestial elephant's brute force, Merisiel's sneak attacks, and Shay's frost bow while Valeros tanks the five in front as the Shoanti Squad nearly perishes doing the same with the four at the back. A suicide bomber kobold with a necklace of fireballs then shows up and pushes the party's HP even further towards zero but is not enough to down anyone yet (thanks to people making reflex saves)! 

Stalker 2: Strelok

[Part of the Wasted Land story] 

The Doctor turns out to be a pacifist who lives on a small island in a highly radioactive lake and is horrified to learn the C-Consciousness project is still running so he reveals Strelok is somewhere at the Cordon, an area near where I first entered the zone! The boss of the rookie village there (who is also feared by the local bandits) partners me up with a capable stalker named Dark who is already on Strelok's trail, which leads to another abandoned underground lab full of anomalies and mutants, including a pseudogiant we manage to slay!

Surprise!

Soon after, Strelok gets the drop on us and kills Dark with a TV induced migraine - revealing Dark was an unwitting C-Consciousness assassin sent to kill him. As we're on the same side about "killing" this C-Consciousness he sends me to turn on another installation nearby, this one with ghostly type poltergeists in the way and a trio of burers down below. These mutant dwarves have powerful telekinesis and can use scattered weapons to fire or throw at their prey meaning it pays to fight them in "clean" areas.

After turning on the power I'm jumped by Scar and his Spark fanatics, who question my allegiance with Ward. I basically tell them what they want to hear, that I support their vision of a "shining land" to make the zone paradise for all to trick them into letting me go without harm. To help me see the "truth" about Ward I'm told to go to one of their bunkers and ask about "FIBER", which seems like a reasonable request.

Dredge and LOTR: Return to Moria

Games about inventory management!

Dredge

This was a surprise for me: a fishing game that managed to hold my attention for over two weeks! But its not really just fishing is it? Each critter has a slightly different reeling in mini-game which goes a long way to keeping it interesting and some only come out at night and in certain parts of the map. Then you also need to upgrade your boat which gives you more space not only for fish, but to also get different rod types so that you can fish deeper or in more tangled environments.

The best part is the game isn't really about fishing at all. Bad stuff lurks in the dark depths, and making sure they don't get you while intentionally going into their territory is quite the blast. Awesome game - recommended!

Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

The dwarves have decided to reclaim their greatest territory long fallen to evil forces and when trying to get in (because speaking "friend" to enter isn't working anymore) you (and possibly your co-op allies) are the only one(s) to make it in with basically nothing.

That's ok because this is a crafting survival game and there's loads of material just lying around for you to make everything you need like axes, pickaxes, weapons, armor, food, and your very own base. Good luck trying to carry all of it at once though! Excellent idea with some items being overpowered (insta wooden platforms to avoid enemies? Yes please!) and other things just being stupid like cooking forces you to wait 30 seconds while making a pick axe is instantaneous. Huh? As a player you really feel that idle time.

Alas that type of game loop is boring for me but if you enjoy things where you need to build up to advance a bit then harvest and build up again then this is a game for you! Literal walls of "you need the next level of pick axe" determine how far you can scavenge so enjoy the long dark of Moria!

Dragonheir: Fey Dragon

[Part of the Cursed story line.]

What's there to do when you run out of "stamina" to grind you might ask? Well, you can try your hand at Fey Meander which is basically fight 6 groups of this level bad guys, go to next level and do it again with a tough poison boss maiden every 5 levels - or you can challenge NPCs in town to fight which is pretty neat (and recommended). Lastly you can try do the main quest which this time saw me beating a green dragon! Woo! And you can repeat this fight every week. Typical. 

Gitouna, Garius and Usha doing some dragon hunting!

Of course you can also try the arena, which gives you a choice of three other player parties to fight and up to 5 rerolls if none of them are to your liking. My best strategy here is the usual D&D one: only pick on people lower level than you for the best chance of success, but even then the parties with legendary heroes (whom I have none of currently) or parties with better composition will kick your ass. In particular Horrus the dwarf tank (who I did get but never used) is a menace if paired with Heksandra and/or Sigrid the blonde short bow archer girl (she prevents your from healing). Basically if I see her and Horrus I skip unless I've many levels higher! :P

Also note your ranking will drop naturally as other people beat your party too and you won't find out about it until you return to the arena. Anyway, with the dragon dead it seems I've finished another chapter and now can go to the adjoining land which is under an orc invasion... or not because the orcs are super high level which means its back to grinding for me!

Dragonheir: Mt. Trollabar

[Part of the Cursed story line.]

I too am surprised that I'm still here, as the story has had some interesting turns wherein I've been betrayed by hot Countess Catherine (who is a OK healer if she's in the party) but also gotten lucky with some hero dice to get Gitouna the dwarf crafter knifer who hits fast and Voresh the ice lich who has a wicked AoE, though it takes time to load up. I've also been loaned the female dual wielding knight Usha to get through a particular place and those three along with Garius and my fire main are my current party.

While smashing through some trolls I've come across the "second" daily type mission which involves fighting a Poseidon type ocean giant and is pretty cool. The "first" daily is harder to find, fighting some sort of death knight through a portal. You also get two garbage tasks daily which are easy and help get you more hero dice and there's also a ranked arena to fight other players parties which is just kicking my rear at the moment so I'm leaving that alone.

Voresh taking on Poseidon Malinus.

Oh, remember how we need specific elemental crystals to level up heroes? It gets worse when you hit the next tiers as the place that drops them makes it much worse for heroes of that element to be there. For example, if I send my fire themed heroes into the fire realm, they do 30% less damage and take 60% more damage meaning you shouldn't send your fire heroes in there. But but but... yep. That means you have to level up AT LEAST THREE TEAMS to be able to farm through each of the three elemental zones! Drow archer Adrie who slows down the bosses from using their ultimates is pretty handy here, but in the case that you can't or don't want to fight the high level variants you can just grind the easier ones and fuse the 2-3 low level crystals you get per run into a higher tier at the ratio of 10 lessers:1 greater. Waaaaaah!

Dragonheir: What the heck is this?

[Part of the Cursed story line.]

This D&D 'somewhat' idle gacha game (less idle than Idle champs though) starts off with a fight against Tiamat, and then you wake up in some death lands where your character is 5 times the size of the map POI's like villages and fortresses. I'm guessing this is because they designed the people at "combat size" and then just went - meh - and kept them that size for world exploration while everything else is shrunk down. It takes a bit of getting used to but you get used to it after awhile.

Combat is clearly the focus of this and while you start with Olaf the skeleton to support your Ice/Fire/Lightning Mage (you must be a mage) he'll soon be joined the dark elf Noteera, troll Gulal, dwarf Forbit and healer Heksandra. Again, its obvious that devs went "meh" at one point as Noteera and Gulal have mini-cutscenes when activating their ultimate abilities while everyone else does not. Outside of setting up your initial battle position there only thing you actively control in battle are those ultimate abilities, and these greatly vary between characters - which is where the "gacha" comes in. Earn dice to roll for heroes! And spoilers: a lot of them suck!

I guess someone makes weapons and armor of that size...?

Fortunately for this early bit that doesn't seem to matter as you'll be smashing through baddies with no problem. In fact it might get to the point where you just press that "auto" button during combat so that the AI handles your ultimate for you. You know it's going to get bad when they provide an "auto" button for combat...

Dark Deity: Ash-Again

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Having beaten back the necromancer, its time to go on the offensive with the retaking of Redhill fortress and Canopy Bridge where Garrick suffers a cut tendon, nearly killing him. The team then goes after Sloane's father, the archmage, who uses the most useless form of mirror image ever (damage any to hurt him) and then King Varic himself!

Ford and Maeve are killed while opening the main gates and King Varic manages to cut Rose's hamstring, slice off one of Sloane's fingers, cut tendons from Sara and Caius and gives Iris a close call before Fenton the dwarf battleaxes through the King's codpiece, killing him! Alas, just as he does so the team is brought into the ether realm by the grand wizard who was previously interrupted in his tornado.

Here they face their resurrected ally Irving who manages to concuss Wren, throw Lincoln into an acid shower, cut tendons from Sloane and Sara, and knocks down Fenton and Monroe before Iris uses her firelord powers to turn him into ash... again.

Rolling Damage List:
Irving [DEAD]
Cia [4/5]: -1 Str, -0 Magic, -0 Magic
Benji [DEAD]
Elias [2/5]: -1 Dex, -2 Magic
Samara [DEAD]
Sophia [DEAD]
Lincoln [1/5]: -2 Str, *-2 Luck
Corvan [4/5]: -1 Mastery
Garrick [1/5]: -1 Mastery, -1 Dex, *-2 Str
Alden [DEAD]
Iris [3/5]: -1 Def. *-1 Fort
Liberty [2/5]: -3 Def
Rose [3/5]: -1 Luck, *-1 Spd
Ford [DEAD]: -2 Luck, -2 Luck, *-6 HP
Aurima [DEAD]
Maeve [DEAD]: -1 Luck, -2 Mastery, *-2 Mastery
Thae'lanel [4/5]: -1 Fort
*Sloane [1/5]: -3 Dex, -1 Str
*Sara [3/5]: -1 Str, -1 Str
*Caius [2/5]: -3 Str
*Wren [4/5]: -1 Magic
*Fenton [4/5]: -1 Fort
*Monroe [4/5]: -1 Fort

Dark Deity: The Mountain

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Upon returning to the mainland where everyone hates them, Lincoln leads the growing team into a cavernous mountain to hide out but first must secure it from the resident dragon! Fenton the dwarf and an awesome snarky acolyte named Faust help them defeat it without any casualties. 

It looks pretty cool though!

Hearing news that King Varic has ordered mass executions at a nearby prison, the team does a prison break next - freeing archer Rose and barbarian Alexa (who they themselves captured before) along with other prisoners to join the revolt. Cia gets concussed again during this and Maeve and Ford expend some luck, but they are able to escape a cordon of soldiers with the help of some food buffs and the powerful storm witch, Liberty, who happens to be Irving's aunt.

Due to these actions the undead forces of the necromancer, clearly in league with King Varic, locates their mountain base and launches an all out assault upon them, weakening Iris and Liberty with necrotic poison, sapping the luck of both Rose and Ford, burning Alden to a crisp, beheading Aurima, giving Maeve lightning inflicted shakes, and beating down Thae'lanel before the necromancer finally runs out of mana and is forced to retreat.

Rolling Damage List:
Irving [DEAD]
Cia [4/5]: -1 Str, -0 Magic, *-0 Magic
Benji [DEAD]
Elias [2/5]: -1 Dex, -2 Magic
Samara [DEAD]
Sophia [DEAD]
Lincoln [3/5]: -2 Str
Corvan [4/5]: -1 Mastery
Garrick [3/5]: -1 Mastery, -1 Dex
Alden [DEAD]: -1 Def, *-7 HP
*Iris [4/5]: -1 Def
*Liberty [2/5]: -3 Def
*Rose [4/5]: -1 Luck
*Ford [1/5]: -2 Luck, -2 Luck
*Aurima [DEAD]: -7 HP
*Maeve [2/5]: -1 Luck, -2 Mastery
*Thae'lanel [4/5]: -1 Fort

Willow (Season 1)

The power to control the universe is in which finger?

Years after the movie of the same name takes place, a great evil once again stirs and now it is up to the children of the movie heroes, their friends, some acquaintances and the titular Nelwyn sorcerer Willow (Warwick Davis) to face it (with a strong dash of "rescue mission" for Season 1).

This fantasy series is very odd. Yes it feels like it has diversity for diversity's sake just like Witcher: Blood Origin but it also has present day slang, out of place music tracks, odd cuts in the cinematography, an unexpected amount of denim, and twirling... way too much twirling. That said it is also quite funny and entertaining.

As long as you aren't expecting a grand fantasy tale that takes itself seriously and are more in the mood for some cosplayers doing a D&D quest then, you might actually enjoy this. We'll definitely look out for season two if it goes ahead.

House of the Rings of Dragon Power?

Two fantasy prequels that are currently season one.

House of the Dragon

Set a hundred years before Game of Thrones, this fantasy series tries to emulate the original as much as possible but instead of having many point of view characters to follow each episode there's only two or three. House Targaryen rules in a time of peace with the strength of their dragons but unfortunate circumstances (and ye olde refusing to just sit down, chat and air secrets to solve everything) just continuously happens that slowly pushes the kingdom to the brink of civil war.

I'm not kidding about slowly either, YEARS pass between episodes and it's a little strange that some characters age while others seem "timeless" but its an entertaining watch regardless with decent plot, acting and CGI. Definitely recommended and looking forward to season two.

Rings of Power

A prequel to the Hobbit, this tells the story of the time before the twenty great rings were forged - when dwarves didn't yet dig so deep, elves more easily gave into emotion, hobbits were more racially diverse and humans as a whole were dirty scum. While the CGI is gorgeous and the acting is ok it's the plot and pacing that lets down this production - not helped by the main character who seems capable of cheat-code worthy feats.

Despite not being as tightly woven as House of the Dragon it is still a nice spectacle to watch and also one I'm waiting for season two. Recommended to fantasy fans, but not necessarily Lord of the Rings fans who would take more issue with what transpires here.

Tales of the Blight II: Blackwall

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

Sounds like legitimate banditry.

 

As the only Grey Warden in the Inquisition, it was no surprise that I'd be the one sent to secure an alliance with the dwarves of Orzammar especially now they've asked for aid with all the recent earthquakes disrupting their trade routes and reopening passages for the darkspawn to pour out from.

Soon enough I made contact with a unit of their "Legion of the Dead" in the Deep Roads. They're a good bunch. Tough in a fight. Fearless. Two of them, Renn and Valta, decided to come along to try determine the unnatural nature of the quakes. Down and down we went, killing darkspawn by the dozens, until we reached a place of darkness that even the darkspawn knew better than to enter.

Renn died there in that darkness, against "pure" dwarves infused to lyrium armor. Valta and I pushed on, found what they were guarding: a lyrium heart which Valta thought to be part of a sleeping titan. Somehow she managed to calm it down, stopping the quakes it was causing. She chose to stay with it, with them, to let me return to the surface. She fulfilled her duty. Orzammar was happy with this result, accepting the Inquisition alliance.

Upon my return, Bull asked how I was still alive. I told him the Maker has a soft spot for fools.

Insight: I didn't realize the Deep Roads is a DLC which means it is WAY harder than other content. From it I learned early on you can actually revive downed companions which makes a rogue's invisibility very useful. Doubly so in that you can abuse enemy leashing, and the fact they don't heal. Fights might take awhile but as long as you can get far enough away to get everyone up, you can make progress.

Tales of the Blight II: Varric

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

The Herald of Andraste, that's what they're calling him now - and because of that some muscle brained Avvar barbarian down in the mire decided to challenge him to a duel to the death. The chosen of their gods against the chosen of ours, with only the lives of some hostages at stake. I could not make this shit up if I tried, and believe me - I've made up a lot of shit in my time.

So while the Herald deals with that, I now find myself in the ass-end of nowhere recruiting people and horses and mercenaries for this new Inquisition. At least I'm no longer a prisoner said the Seeker, yet here I am doing what she asked. Did I just get downgraded to a slave? That's a funny thought.

He still has some of the best lines.

Not many are willing or able to join though, not with Blondies' war still going on. Mages and templars, and innocent people caught in the middle. At least the rebel mages in Redcliffe are willing to meet, but it turns out they've basically sold themselves to some Tevinter magister who wants to personally negotiate with the Herald.

If your money's on this being a trap, you were right. Dorian, an apprentice of this magister with the most sparkly Tevinter mustache you'll ever see, confirmed his master is part of the "Venatori" - some radical group serving "the Elder One". With a few well placed bolts and some magical protection from Sparkles, the magister was convinced to hand over both the mages and the Elder One's plans which involve the assassination of the Empress or Orlais and a demon army. Like I said, I could not make this shit up if I tried.

Insight: In the mire map, walking into the water spawns undead. Contrary to what is suggested, do not avoid it. Spawn as many undead as you can to level up. There's also a fire dragon in the Hinterlands whose fight is almost exactly like the high dragon in Dragon Age 2, where is summons adds and flies to unreachable places to snipe. Have potions ready for it!

Tales of the Blight II: Trevelyan

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

Trevelyan awoke as a prisoner of Seeker Cassandra (who has changed much from the last time we saw her). With some missing memories, he had no answers to the charge of killing the Divine (the "pope" of the Chantry) by exploding her entire temple and leaving a huge breach to the fade in its place, nor to how he walked out of it alive with a strange green glow his left hand now possessed.

At least we know where to go!

As evil spirits and demons were now entering the world, Cassandra had no choice but to trust the elven apostate Solas, self proclaimed scholar of the fade, who suggested this power might be able to close the breach if Trevelyan got close enough. With a few chantry soldiers and her personally led expendable forward team of Solas, Trevelyan and dwarven prisoner Varric, they pushed through the numerous demons, closing the smaller door-sized rifts on the way before reaching the main breach. With much strain, Trevelyan uses his new power on it and... passes out.

He awakes in the small, snowy village of Haven - where survivors salute and kneel before him, coining him "the Herald of Andraste" since he was able to make the breach dormant (but not closed entirely). With this momentum, Cassandra declares the Inquisition reborn - to uncover who created the breach and killed the Divine to bring them to justice.

Insight: Interrupting rifts can stun and debuff the demons around it, but this was only most useful against the armored pride ones or the annoying despair ones that hop around. For all other types it was often fastest to just fight and kill them directly (unless they got too far).

Tales of the Blight II: The Peacekeepers

[Part of my Dragon Age 2 play through. Spoilers ahead!]

The Qunari are a strange, horned race and their leader Arishok insists that despite having been in Kirkwall for years now, they are unable to go home. Almost daily, anti-Qunari sentiment grows as Hawke tries to keep everyone calm. Aveline is too busy trying to get into the pants of one of her subordinates to help so he relies instead on the magical talents of Merrill and Anders, and the "other" talents of Isabella who he has a fling with.

Since Isabella is also seeing Fenris, Hawke gets roped into defending him against cronies of his old masters who tell Fenris about his long lost sister. Despite promising to spare them for the information, Fenris kills them, solidifying to Hawke that the white haired elf shouldn't be trusted.

That's a lot of bad guys! Glad I have stealth... :)

When assisting a dreamer from magical nightmares (by going into his dream), Hawke also learns he can't really trust Merrill who puts her clan above her loyalty to him (despite them exiling her), and Isabella who "likes big boats" and all things materialistic. Indeed, only paranoid Anders seems to be the only reliable companion. Him and Varric that is.

While Hawke's team is running around, beating up people to convince them violence isn't the answer, Varric finally finds and kills his brother who left them in the Deep Roads. Surprisingly, there is proof he had sold the cursed idol to some unfortunate buyer. Varric hopes whoever that was is long gone from Kirkwall.

There's no time to look though as Hawke's mom is abducted by the resident Kirkwall serial killer, a mage who is using pieces of his victims to Frankenstein his own mother back to life. They are too late to save anyone, but the experience certainly instills in Hawke a huge distrust in all mages. Sorry Anders. It seems only Varric can be trusted!

Varric has the best lines.

Insight: For the casters, learn the spell Rock Armor. It's super effective! Also after each time skip expect to be exploring the same areas you've already explored to fight things you've fought before in other areas. Nice game design... not!

Tales of the Blight II: Band of the Hawke

[Part of my Dragon Age 2 play through. Spoilers ahead!]

One of the tasks Hawke's team undertakes is to be the unsuspecting assassination target in place of elven ex-slave and mage hater Fenris. This results in Hawke and company killing their smuggler employer and moving onto the more lucrative task of clearing out some baby dragons nesting in the local mine. Soon after, Hawke finds Fenris' counterpart, ex-Grey Warden mage Anders who hates all the things that oppress mages and is willing to donate some maps for the Deep Roads expedition.

Finally ready with a heavy coin purse, Hawke and Beth join the dwarves on their expedition - spelunking with Varric, Bianca (his crossbow) and Isabella, an ex-pirate captain and tavern regular with low morals who is on the lookout for some special relic. During this time Varric's brother finds a cursed idol and abandons the team in a bad spot, resulting in Beth's demise but the rest of the party return richer than before... so much so that Hawke buys a mansion in the posh high town over the next three years (another time skip!?) for his mother.

Isabella is a klepto.

During this time, Aveline is promoted to guard-captain, Merrill now fully exiled from her clan moves into Kirkwall's elven alienage in the low town slums, Anders continues being paranoid in the dark town sewers, and Isabella and Varric waste all their earnings at the tavern. Before he can get too out of shape, Hawke is summoned by the viscount of Kirkwall for a most important task: to keep the peace between the populace and the Qunari who have been given an encampment down at the docks district.

Insight: If you play a thief, get stealth ASAP. Without it you get smashed easily. With it you are OP as you can just wait for your potion cool downs or even run off to abuse enemy leash mechanics, meaning you can come back to pick off piece meal what was once a big group.

Tales of the Blight II: Kirkwall Refugees

[Part of my Dragon Age 2 play through. Spoilers ahead!]

With darkspawn coming from all sides, Hawke flees with a handful of other refugees into the wilds and is saved in the nick of time by a huge red dragon, who turns out to be the witch Flemeth. In exchange for delivering an amulet of hers, she helps them reach the harbour where Hawke and the remaining survivors sail to Kirkwall (and not to Dunwall, too many Dishonoreds there) to meet his uncle at the gates. Alas said uncle has squandered the family fortune, so he sells Hawke, his sister Beth, and traveling companion Aveline into a year of indentured service to some smugglers while taking Hawke's mother through the city gates.

One handy time skip later and a year has passed, during which time the Hero of Ferelden stopped the blight. Knowing this is the prime time to enter the Deep Roads (home of the darkspawn) in search of treasure, a dwarf named Varric and his brother begin setting up an expedition to delve below. Hawke is welcome to join if he can front the gold as a partner, and knows this is the opportunity to change his family's fortunes now that he's no longer a slave. With zero coin to his name it's time to look for work, starting with his old friend Aveline - now part of the Kirkwall guard who is so good at her job, she finds proof the current guard-captain a corrupt scum and gets him fired.

Guess who is back to eat more of her daughters?

With Beth, the trio can finally also deliver Flemeth's amulet to the Dalish gypsy camp up the mountain where apprentice in exile Merrill performs some blood magic at a mountain top altar, revealing the necklace was a phylactery. Her spell revives a thankful Flemeth, who transforms again into a dragon and flies off. Since none of this really helps his financial situation, the trio soon head back to the smugglers to look for work - at least this time they'll get paid!

Insight: Inventory space is limited so always sell the junk treasure and buy the bag that increases the holding capacity. Also, geez - what a decrease in quality from Dragon Age: Origins!

Borderlands 2: Gaming is Training

[Part of the Wasted Land story]

And so we arrive in a desolate land plagued by skelemen and upon reaching the nearby town we find it filled with familiar faces. DL protects tavern owner Moxxi from some rowdy drunks, I chase down some crumpet thieves, and Jim explodes some of the town's scout blimps for Mister "Gatekeeper" Torque before we are allowed to move on to the Forest of Being Eaten Alive by Trees... THIS GAME IS GREAT!

The forest is home not only to angry ents, but also formidable orcs and scary looking spiders. Deeper in we even have to beat up some other adventurers who are camping a boss monster and save a crestfallen player from the invader "n00bkiller" before running into Roland "the White Knight" who is totally OK that Jim shot down the scouting blimp he was on.

Such a dork souls moment!

As recompense we help him retrieve a magic sword from a giant golem and as a reward each get a totally awesome SWORDSPLOSION shotgun which shoots a sword that explodes into more exploding swords! Thank you Mr. Torque! After fighting past dragons and giant skelemen kings we then enter the Mines of Avarice to forge an alliance with the dwarves who all look like Jim!

Everything goes smoothly until I "accidentally" explode the face of the dwarven king turning all the dwarves and their golems hostile. The little bastards even seal us in, but we find the wandering wizard Claptrap nearby willing to help us out... after we forge him a mighty beard taken from dead dwarves and power up his wand by inserting it into a number of magical creatures, before killing them. I DO ALL THE INSERTING!

Insight: Ents are weak to fire while knights are weak to corrosive but I like skelemen best as they're weak against melee!

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Blaugust Bonus: "Tell us about a person/s or thing/s that has greatly influenced you." -Chestnut

My very patient wife! She has me expanding my palate and perfecting another language.

Sekiro: You're gonna die more than Twice - Boss Fight Tips (Part II)!

After beating that first set of bosses, here's the next batch waiting to be defeated!

General Speechman on the Stairs (optional) - this guy is actually very readable. Hook up the right side of the street (Gasp - NOT LEFT?), then across and up above him to start with a death blow. After that you need to be fast, killing some of his gunners.

Run off to the dead end behind them and let him chase you, then run past him to kill the remaining riflemen so that you can duel properly. Now the easy part. Back off down the stairs. If he walks forward throw a fire cracker and whack him. If he walks backward, stab or whirlwind attack at range (like your aiming to -just- miss) to tag him then parry/back off and repeat. Careful of his jump smash though. Side step or hit him when he does that.

Longsword in the Pit - drop attack from the hole to complete 50% of the fight. If you have the flamethrower tool (from the flaming village), use it to light him up when he's open (don't get greedy). Otherwise, this one is another lesson in NOT locking on to the boss and running instead of dodging. He has many kick attacks which leave him open so sprint in a circle like a chicken and just peck him when he's open.

If you can't find him, from the Reservoir Shrine, grapple across the branches - sneak over the wall then grapple LEFT over the gap.

Seven Spears Guy - this optional dude holds the title of "having killed me the second to the most times"! So much it broke my grammar! Anyway since he cheats so much, my solution is equally garbage but effective.

To find him advance as though you're hunting the Longsword guy (above) but instead of going over the gap, follow the long grass on the LEFT to murder/sneak along the lower cliff face and into the tower, just like you did in the intro.

Exit the tower but before going down the stairs examine the left side of the landing. See how you can "hang on ledge" here? Good. Now go backstab the cunt. When he gets angry go up the stairs and hang on the ledge. This breaks his mind and he just stands idle while you attack his knee from the hanging position. He'll never be an adventurer again!

Poison Pit Rifleboss - When you first reach the poison pit, your first task is to ignore everyone and just get to the LEFT side of the chamber where there's a shrine. From that shrine, not only can you grind two of the gunners for EXP - you can back stab this guy.

Afterwards, run away. Ideally leading him into the poisoned lake. You can then Tarzan across some trees to the landing above the shrine to retain his aggro. All you need next is patience, as the poison will do your work for you. Once he's ready to drop (he won't die to it) rush him aggressively for the win.

Armored Warrior - Axe and Parry (tap tap tap). The only way to beat him is to break his posture with the specific goal of breaking it precisely when his back is to the open sky. Don't worry, he'll make holes in the bridge for you. Also, feel free to run away to heal and recover your own posture (hold block down) before repositioning to kick him off the bridge.

PS. Don't bother fighting anything each time you running to fight him. Just grapple up the path and jump over the one dwarf in the way.

Ok, that's the last one for this set. More to come tomorrow!