Games you're playing: The 2009 edition.

[Grefter]

What would you do for revenge? Kill him? Don't be a dullard, you gotta get creative with this shit. Like those dudes in Star Wars that tortured people by putting them in a bacta tank and running electricity through it until they experienced fourth-degree burns, then turning it off until they healed and doing it over again, or when I got that little kid to kill his whole family in Fallout 2.

Why not get him to fuck his daughter instead?  But considering this is Dragon Age and you have Branka's example to follow you can do much better than these.  In a universe with Lovecraftian body horror present all of this pales in comparison.
Just kidnap him and lock him in a hotel room for 15 years.  Give him anti psychotics to keep him sane.  Hypnotize and manipulate the shit out of him. .  Profit.

[Sierra]

DA: Brood mother dead. High dragon dead. Flemeth dead. At the Landsmeet now. VENGEANCE looms.

I was really disappointed. You can kill Arl Howe, but you can only THREATEN to kill his family. I wanted to rape his daughter in front of him, partially because of the sadistic joy but partially because having an audience would get my rocks off.

DA's often not that inventive with the evil options, I find. Is Howe directly responsible for the MC's personal trauma in every background?

[Grefter]

Not for Dwarf Commoner.  You do get a chance at some kind of vindication there though (you get a bit right at the start there and then some more in a few spots when you get back to the city obviously).  But I expect to see something there for City Elf.

[Strago]

Dragon Age!

So due to a combination of my chronic inability to be happy with any PC I make in these sorts of games and the fact that Hard Mode is starting to get sort of ass-balls hard, I'm leaving my Mage playthrough for a bit. I'll go through on Normal with a Dwarf Rogue (Noble, I think; or maybe Commoner again but with better skills than last time, if only because I aesthetically really dig the tattoos Commoners get, but probably Noble because I've heard it's rad). That way I can use my Mage to become a Blood Mage and do all that evilly shit I was starting to tend towards anyhow.

I am ridiculous. But it almost certainly says something good about the game that I don't mind playing through the beginning again and again, yeah?

Lockpicking: worthwhile?

[dude789]

Teddie does have a problem with skillslots though. He has all these great abilities but he's going to have to sacrifice one or two. The abilities he wants are Diarahan, Mediarahan, Amrita, Samarecarm, Mataru, Maraku, Bufudyne, Mabufudyne, Ice Amp, Ice Boost. As you can see he's going to have to sacrifice at least two.  Kanji can cover one of his MT buffs, but with both him and Chie the parties elemental coverage is very limited.

Yukiko's probably a bit better for randoms because buffs aren't that important for  randoms and she can do more damage. Also, lightning is a pretty shitty weakness by the end of the game and she ends up resisting it instead of being weak to it. Salvation is also very helpful for some of the last bosses.

I'd go with Yukiko for the extra elemental coverage. Teddie's buffs are nice for bosses, but the weakness is not and Yukiko gets Salvation which is great for some of the double acting bosses.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Yeah, I'll probably end up using Yukiko simply for that. Having Chie and Teddie (and Kanji) just sucks if I come up against something that resists Ice and Physicals. Then it's all on Souji and ouch... >.>;;

[Sierra]

Dragon Age!

So due to a combination of my chronic inability to be happy with any PC I make in these sorts of games and the fact that Hard Mode is starting to get sort of ass-balls hard, I'm leaving my Mage playthrough for a bit. I'll go through on Normal with a Dwarf Rogue (Noble, I think; or maybe Commoner again but with better skills than last time, if only because I aesthetically really dig the tattoos Commoners get, but probably Noble because I've heard it's rad). That way I can use my Mage to become a Blood Mage and do all that evilly shit I was starting to tend towards anyhow.

I am ridiculous. But it almost certainly says something good about the game that I don't mind playing through the beginning again and again, yeah?

Lockpicking: worthwhile?

Lockpicking gets you some spare money and equipment but nothing that's absolutely vital, in my experience.

And seriously, don't try Hard mode the first time through. I've found the game quite sufficiently difficult on Normal.

[Monkeyfinger]

Lockpicking and trap disarming are on the same skill and altogether it's a decent but not vital one. Traps are threatening without being potentially fatal by themselves like they are in BG, and locked chests contain crap loot but are a nice source of XP.

One thing to be careful of is that it's multiplied by your cunning, meaning that it's a waste of points if you neglect cunning. Maxed lockpicking + 15 CUN = can't pick shit.

But it almost certainly says something good about the game that I don't mind playing through the beginning again and again, yeah?

In that regard, I guess it is a worthy successor to BG2. >_> what?

[Strago]

Dragon Age!

So due to a combination of my chronic inability to be happy with any PC I make in these sorts of games and the fact that Hard Mode is starting to get sort of ass-balls hard, I'm leaving my Mage playthrough for a bit. I'll go through on Normal with a Dwarf Rogue (Noble, I think; or maybe Commoner again but with better skills than last time, if only because I aesthetically really dig the tattoos Commoners get, but probably Noble because I've heard it's rad). That way I can use my Mage to become a Blood Mage and do all that evilly shit I was starting to tend towards anyhow.

I am ridiculous. But it almost certainly says something good about the game that I don't mind playing through the beginning again and again, yeah?

Lockpicking: worthwhile?

Lockpicking gets you some spare money and equipment but nothing that's absolutely vital, in my experience.

And seriously, don't try Hard mode the first time through. I've found the game quite sufficiently difficult on Normal.

Yeah, just learned that lesson when the Revenant in Redcliffe Castle just completely molested me. Oof.

Right now I'm trying to figure out whether it's viable to do a mostly Dexterity/Cunning Rogue with a little Strength, or whether that STR score is really essential. Hrm.

EDIT: To clarify, I know the Lethality talent lets me use Cunning for damage, but it doesn't say anything about using it for accuracy, so I dunno if that sorts of screws yourself over.

[Monkeyfinger]

Dragon Age!

So due to a combination of my chronic inability to be happy with any PC I make in these sorts of games and the fact that Hard Mode is starting to get sort of ass-balls hard, I'm leaving my Mage playthrough for a bit. I'll go through on Normal with a Dwarf Rogue (Noble, I think; or maybe Commoner again but with better skills than last time, if only because I aesthetically really dig the tattoos Commoners get, but probably Noble because I've heard it's rad). That way I can use my Mage to become a Blood Mage and do all that evilly shit I was starting to tend towards anyhow.

I am ridiculous. But it almost certainly says something good about the game that I don't mind playing through the beginning again and again, yeah?

Lockpicking: worthwhile?

Lockpicking gets you some spare money and equipment but nothing that's absolutely vital, in my experience.

And seriously, don't try Hard mode the first time through. I've found the game quite sufficiently difficult on Normal.

Yeah, just learned that lesson when the Revenant in Redcliffe Castle just completely molested me. Oof.

Right now I'm trying to figure out whether it's viable to do a mostly Dexterity/Cunning Rogue with a little Strength, or whether that STR score is really essential. Hrm.

There's a lever in the area where you fight the revenant. Flipping it makes knights storm the castle and cut him to ribbons. Rekindle your old love for the TAB key in this game, you'll miss a lot of stuff like that without it.

The rogue build you mentioned is ideal if you specialize in daggers, which unlike in most WRPGs is actually viable here.

Lethality only affects damage.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Yeah, if you go for a dagger build rogue, there's no real reason to put points in STR. I took it because I went for Dual Weapon Mastery so that I could use swords in both hands, so I had to go to 32 STR.

[Strago]

Oh, nice. Heh. Yeah, I actually hold TAB pretty frequently, but I've been playing in old-school isometric mode and ironically that actually makes it a lot easier to miss things like that.

Just installed the Bioware staffer's temporary hotfix that makes dagger damage 50/50 STR/DEX as it was supposed to be. I guess with a high enough DEX score accuracy won't be a problem as long as I put some points in STR? Using daggers does sound pretty fun -- since, as you mentioned, it's so rarely viable.

Ninja'd: No STR at all? I dunno, I worry that my accuracy would be atrocious.

[Monkeyfinger]

DEX boosts melee accuracy in the exact same way that strength does - the two stats are interchangeable for that purpose. This is for all melee weapons, not just daggers. The real use a dagger rogue has for a few strength points is armor. Even leathers have mild strength reqs.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

DEX boosts melee accuracy in the exact same way that strength does - the two stats are interchangeable for that purpose. This is for all melee weapons, not just daggers. The real use a dagger rogue has for a few strength points is armor. Even leathers have mild strength reqs.

The top-end leather (Wade's Drakescale and such) have a STR requirement of 20, which with most races and the bonuses from the Fade, works out to be only a handful of points you have to put in it.

[Monkeyfinger]

Also, for what it's worth, there's a merchant in Denerim who pays dwarf nobles double gold for things they sell him.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Gorim? That's because he used to be your wingman if you are a Dwarf, or you used to bang if you are a She-Dwarf. He also gives you the Aeducan Family Shield, which is pretty awesome.

[Sierra]

DA: Game finished. That had to have been at least twenty minutes' worth of credits. Jesus. And that rock song was so goddamn cheesy. Anyway, ending was mostly just there. Curious about some of the possible variations, though, particularly Morrigan's offer. I gather that if you play a male MC she asks you to impregnate her. As a female MC, she instead asks you to talk Alastair into doing it. This is probably even more messed up. Anyway, I went along with this horrible plan, because I'm such a great friend. I'd guess that saying no to this plan just means that you die in the ending?

Took Alastair, Leliana, and Wynne with me for the endgame. Replacing Alastair/Leliana with Dog/Morrigan would've made for a superior party, but I picked the lineup mostly on the basis of sentimentality (Wynne is just there because how the hell else do you deal with a boss without a healer?) Didn't have much trouble with the horde or the final boss anyway. I guess the empty slot in my army menu would've been occupied by the Dalish elves if I hadn't wiped them out?

So yeah, game is pretty good if the meandering, BG-style sidequestathon kind of game is your thing. Bit heavy on the dungeon-crawling at times, but the cast is charming enough so eh, I don't care.

[Monkeyfinger]

Ending stuffs for El Cid:

If you decline the ritual and try to talk Alistair into doing it, he refuses and morrigan stamps off with an empty belly. However, after the landsmeet you can spare Loghain's life, make him do the joining and become a Grey Warden, and put him in your party. If he's in your party, he'll go along with the plan. If Morrigan ends up with no kid, you can also have Alistair or Loghain sacrifice himself to kill the archdemon.

[Sierra]

That's a lot of safety nets.

Also, I totally didn't notice during the game that Howe = Tim Curry. I suck.

[Cmdr_King]

Knights of the Old Republic- Cleared out Dantooine, decided to make Tatooine the next port of call.
Lightside male Consular?  Green saber, anyway.
Taking some suggestions from Grefter, focusing heavily on Persuade and Repair skill-wise.  I'd already put some points in dualwield for reasons that escape me, so sticking with that.  Though of course this tends to mean that weak enemies die in seconds while anything competent is a slog... but then, I get the impression the game is just sorta like that anyway.  Not like there's a shortage of ways to mitigate that of course, Force Push and grenades and so on.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

WAoO - Dear DQ8 bosses, this is how you make your mold not suck:

1. Have a flavor of 2HKO offense with your main artillery.
2. Actually have good speed.
3. Emphasize MT with your tricks.
4. Not suck at AI.

Holly was sorta scary - Dispel+hitting weakness on Scarecrow on a spell she likes to spam and 2HKOs average as it stands+sleep+OHGOD MAGIC FOCUS BLAZEWALL can pile up the pressure reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaally fast. So thankful her physical sucks. Granted, she also benefits from MT healing not coming by easy like it does in DQ8 - something like Multiheal would've made her pretty much shit. But Wizard of Oz doesn't give you that.

EDIT: Also got all final skills. Jaku was a dick, but it worked out in the end. Debuffing his accuracy and dispelling his Power Enhances is absolutely key.

[Cmdr_King]

Atelier Annie- Finished.  Got the Royal Alchemist ending, then doubled back and got the Adventurer ending.  THAT was worth it if only for the picture.  Adventurer?  Nay, 'tis a PIRATE.  Yessss.

Strange game.  I dunno, it's fun and flows quick and all, but I feel like they go a little far with the depirvation of information.  Like, did you really have to synth items before you knew what they did?  And the lack of feedback on how clerks/renewals/upgrading the shop worked bothered me until the ending faqs came up and it became obvious that A) they were barely relevant in the long run and B) the game in fact really depended on a bunch of other stuff for high end endings.
That said, I'm not sure why the difference between the best ending and the normal is synthing one item, considering that just raising all the facilities enough and getting Gold starts on all the assignments is pleny until the last months of the game.  I know that friendships happen more or less on their own but...
(The real kicker is the Liese events though.  o_o)

Still, fun.  7/10.

[Niu]

Richter: Rar villain. If you can't figure this out quickly you fail at Tales games. Well, in fairness to him he serves to develop Emil a good bit, and his motivations, while dumb, are just plain unique enough to warrant intrigue. Very possibly the most convoluted revenge plot ever. But regardless, he serves his purpose as a mysterious villain well enough.

You forget to mention the "PIG!!", or they took that off??

Though you didn't hate Marta really shocked me.

[Clear Tranquil]

I wasn't shocked!

Persona 4- Phantasy Star Universe defeated so I decided to tie up some loose ends on my Expert new game+ file of P4. First order of the day was to defeat an optional boss I hadn't fought this time round yet so I trawled through the dungeon floors, levelling up Yosuke from L22, Kanji from L40 and Yukiko from pre Samarecarm in the process and culminated w/th an easy boss. Well Souji does have his ultimate weapon, Godly Robe and Hassou Tobi ^_^ So the entire dungeon was easy. Except from when I ran into those table things and rediscovered oh crap physicals and elementals don't work on these things! I'm too used to smiting such types w/th Naoto ;_;

I'm also still firmly in the Teddie camp myself (I've given Yukiko more than her chance w/th a seriously extensive run this file) while Yukiko might be the better healer eventually Teddie comes in faster starting w/th Mediarama. The small speed advantage Teddie has over Yukiko probably doesn't really matter yeah but I just like to nitpick! Also sometimes I prefer those w/th a speed edge however slight) However Yukiko doesn't learn Mediarama till late which is noticable on Expert mode. Well she could equip the Blessed Hands if one remembers to pick those up somewhere but meh.

Picked up the Chakra Ring and decided Yosuke, Kanji and Yukiko were all sufficiently levelled for Reaper farming. As a result I now have all three of the remaining ultimate weapons that I had to pick up (of the three Yosuke picks up the shiniest with a highly increased physical evade factor) Though the fight for Kanji's this morning was rather intense. Yukiko died to ICE oh noes! Seriously because I had no revival items. Kanji decided to throw in the towel to wind a bit later. This left Blessed Hands Yosuke to frantically keep his and Souji's HP topped up and refresh MT Hit/Evade up as needed. Really though it didn't take that long especially since Kanji had managed to toss an MT Atk up earlier. Power Charged Hit boosted Hassou Tobi are win. Kanji and Yukiko were kind of nerfed for ultimate weapons (+25% Elec damage, high chance of Exhaustion!!!) and it's not as if Yosuke sooo needed more evade. Oh well. Now for the three remaining God Robes yesu!

[Grefter]

Laggy Fantasy Tactics - Preface this, remember with every single post I make about this, I suck horribly at this game.  I am quite possibly one of the worst SRPG players you will ever find.  Consequently, every single battle is save state abused.  This lets me do things I shouldn't be able to and things I cannot even comprehend how to deal with sanely.

So begins the amazing adventures of Jim the Elf Bouelve.

HOLY CRAP RANDOMS ON MANDALIA PLAINS IS EVIL.  2 Chocobos are the least threatening thing on the field in the face of 3 Goblins.  Goblins that like to Confusion/Blind you or Don't Move/Doom you.  Holy crap.  Knights are very nice now though.  Thief + red Panther on Mandalia plains Algus fight are much sadness, but Charm is much more manageable than the horror that is goblins.

I am aware that I am about to be made to weep by Sweegy.

Edit - Alright Sweegy wasn't anywhere near as bad as the random was.

Edit 2 - Beat Dorter and now I realised I have failed to prepare for something very important.  I must unlock Mediator already (should have made someone Priest instead of Chemist sooner) so that I can invite myself and turn myself into a death god.