They did it. They actually did it. I honestly can’t believe it, and I’m so happy. The impossible actually happened: Skullfane was nerfed to 10 mana! This change was well deserved and I’m so happy they did it. While this is perhaps lip service, it means they at least sort of care about Unlimited. This Meta Report was created by looking at Gamewith and Manasurge’s tier lists, recent JCG performances, winstreaks posted on Shadowverse-Wins, sparse date on SVLog, my own experience in Masters, and the opinions of other players on discord. I try to attribute decks to where I got them from where possible.
Meta Overview
The Skullfane nerf has opened the floodgates. Plenty of strategies were oppressed by Nihilism, and its demise has encouraged experimentation with them again. This resulted in actual meta fluidity (!) between the 2 post-patch JCG events. Mainly this can be seen in a move away from aggressive decks and towards Elana. Despite Skullfane no longer existing, another deck is on the rise and trying to take its place: Storm Rune. Storm Rune has been a constant and consistent deck throughout the history of Unlimited, and the buff to Maiser has only propelled it to new heights. Storm Rune is currently one of the most popular and most winning decks in UL, and while it isn’t as oppressive as Skullfane, it can still be frustrating to queue into. Thanks to Maiser, other fast decks aren’t even a reliable way to deal with it anymore. Partially due to the perceived strength of Aggro Shadow and the dominance of Storm Rune, Elana Haven has returned, acting as the primary anti-aggro deck of the format. That’s not to say other anti-aggro decks are bad, only that Elana is the best of the lot. Elana, in turn, is preyed upon by combo decks, with Dimension Shift being one of the strongest Elana killers. This makes the meta a rough game of rock-paper-scissors between fast decks, Elana, and Elana counters. While there are a diverse amount of fast decks and Elana counters, said diversity is hampered by the polarized nature of the meta. Oftentimes it feels like the games are decided by the matchup, rather than your play. This is unfortunate, but still better than the Skullfane era. Partly due to increased interest after the patch, and partly due to the GP, there’s also lot of interesting off-meta or unestablished decks to talk about as well. Decks that are only featured in the “Tournament Winning Decks” tab will be talked about, but I won’t link them since they can be found easily through the in-game client.
Class Analysis and Decklists
Forestcraft Forest hasn’t changed much, as there are still 3 major strategies that do well and that deserve talking about. However, there are several updates and changes worth mentioning. Where there is the most change, is OG Roach. In the last report, there were essentially 2 approaches: Aerin and Loxis. Aerin Roach is largely the same; it does okay into Aggro thanks to all the healing, and can compete against Elana better thanks to Xeno Sagittarius and Lionel. Loxis does better into combo decks where it can race faster, and can is still capable of OTKing through 1 Ward on turn 5 with the right set up. Loxis builds have also started running Reclusive Ponderer. Don't be fooled though, as the innovation isn't over. Chaser_sx, whose Loxis list was featured in my last report, has been climbing up to GM1 and beyond with a hybrid list that runs Loxis and Aerin. Additionally, in the February 3rd JCG, エアーマン came 3rd with a Loxis Roach that is built much closer to its Rotation counterpart, featuring more bounces, Giant Pastures, Walder, and Shamu & Shama. As such, I’m featuring a whopping 4 separate takes on Roach this report. Personally, I prefer lists with Xeno Sagittarius right now, as otherwise the Elana matchup can be very difficult. Two Aggro Forest players got top 16 in the first JCG, both using the same list. Could this be a sign that Aggro Forest is undervalued and underexplored right now? Is their list the secret sauce? From my personal testing, it hasn’t been doing great, especially with the return of Elana Haven. Aggro Forest continues to be outclassed by aggro decks from other classes, and is not recommended for climbing if you want to win. Whirlwind Roach is basically the same as pre-patch. Unfortunately, it traded a horrendous Skullfane matchup for horrendous matchups into Aggro and Elana. Other combo decks are also a similar speed to, if not faster than this deck, so it is a bit questionable right now. . Manasurge Aerin Roach bzwB2a1vb2llnDz's Reclusive Loxis Roach Chaser_sx’s Hybrid Roach エアーマン’s Top 3 Shamu & Shama Loxis Roach Hazuki andしゃくあに＠後輩ちゃん's Top 16 Aggro Forest Manasurge Whirlwind Roach Swordcraft Sword is clinging on, and is still brought to JCGs with some regularity. The death of Skullfane has led to a resurgence of Rally Sword, which managed to get top 16 in the February 3rd JCG qualifier, as well as several winstreaks on Shadowverse-Wins. Alas, I do not have the vials for Rally Sword, so I don’t have a proper opinion about it. It seems to be working for several players, though. Reinhardt Dionne was largely an anti-meta deck built specifically to counter Skullfane. With its prey defeated, it may have less relevance in the current meta. Aggro Dionne still exists, but like all aggro decks is very polarized. Just don’t queue into Elana and you might be alright. Some madmen brought Axeman OTK to JCG, but just isn’t consistent enough to make top 16. It’s being featured mainly due to its novelty and relatively cheap cost. 佐々木久美's Top 16 Rally Swordcraft Melirei’s Reinhardt Dionne Manasurge Aggro Dionne Unsheathed Axeman Runecraft Storm Rune is one of the most popular decks in Masters and one of the most effective. In a format based largely on what deck you’re playing and not how well you pilot it, Storm Rune is a major exception. Certainly it’s good enough for a novice to do fairly well, but especially with Maiser, the seasoned veterans will find it very rewarding. Who would have thought being able to play tons of 0pp cards to discount your other Storm cards would be really good? It’s very possible that as the format develops, Storm Rune will be the next tier 0 oppressive strategy. Luckily, the Mini-Expansion is coming next month and that will hopefully shake things up before they get too bad. When the Skullfane nerf was announced, it was feared that Dimension Shift would run rampant. However, in JCG and ladder, Dshift was already showing signs of weakening. In the 1/30 JCG, Dshift was only 4 of the 10 Rune decks in top 16. In the 2/3 JCG, only 2 of the 8 Rune decks in top 16 were Dshift. Generally Dshift’s role in the meta is to beat back down Elana Haven and get beaten by aggro. Some have tried out the newly buffed Maiser, but whether he will become standard in Dimension Shift is still up in the air. Additionally, it seems that Kuon has fallen off in usage in JCG and on Shadowverse Wins, a direction that seemed likely in the last report. Manasurge Maiser Storm Rune Manasurge Maiser Dimension Shift _5ydm's Kuon-less Dimension Shift Dragoncraft Most relevant Dragon decks involve abusing Phoenix Roost to cheat an insane amount of playpoints, but they do it in different ways. Currently there are three main approaches you may run into on ladder. Unfortunately, the current meta is not very kind to Dragon, as both fast decks and Elana can cause it trouble. With access to a ton of card draw, and an incredible finisher, Encounter Dagon is arguably the most uninteractive combo deck in a format full of uninteractive combo decks. While its strategy is undeniably powerful, it isn't without weaknesses. The current meta is very hostile to Dagon, since it is weak to aggressive decks, and many Elana players are running Realm of Repose. That makes it a bit risky. Ian Roost focuses on abusing Zooey, Arbiter of Hope’s fanfare to make yourself immune to damage while smacking your opponent with her over and over. Thanks to Ian & Adele, Newlyweds, Zooey can be bounced back to your hand and played again next turn. With two Roosts up, you can do even sillier things like destroy a big Ward with Zelgenea, hit with Zooey, and bounce both of them to do it again next turn. Many lists also play 1 Dagon and some Wind Reader Zells as a backup combo. Another way to abuse Phoenix Roost is to pair it with Dragon Devouring Dread. This variant plays out closer to the Roost Ramp decks in Rotation: ramp up, get Phoenix Roosts in play, and slap your opponents with big dragons. DDD Roost has access to the aforementioned Wind Reader Zell + Dagon combo, and while these decks run Zooey, she's less of a wincondition and more of a way to stall for time. Ghandagoza seems to have caught on, as has Bahamut, Primeval Dragon. The lack of Skullfane and the Grand Prix have also caused an uptick in Aggro Dragoncraft, which incorporates many cards that have found a home in Rotation Vehicle Dragon like Razia. Aggro Dragon doesn’t happen to be super popular right now, and it’s another deck I don’t have the vials for, so I can’t vouch for its effectiveness. Manasurge Encounter Dagon Manasurge Ian Roost n3zSV’s DDD Roost Manasurge Aggro Dragon Shadowcraft Shadowcraft has been very popular in JCG and on ladder. Shadow generally has 3 archetypes, same as before. Aggro Shadow used to be one of the most popular aggressive strategies on ladder and JCG. However, current meta trends are not looking good for it: Maiser can make short work of your board, Elana Haven is a terrible matchup, and even going against other aggro decks is tough if you don't go first. That being said, it still demolishes Elana counters, and its low cost and high overlap with Rotation Aggro Shadow means it will continue to see play. After the fall of Skullfane, Atomy is back on the menu as the best way to make big boards insanely early. Activating Atomy on turn 3 or 4 is often game winning. The main difference between Atomy lists comes down to running Undead Parade or not. Tyrant OTKShadow is still lurking around, with 2 players making top 16 with it in the 1/30 JCG. Tyrant players have started to incorporate Deathbringer and Fatal Order to help demolish pesky wards and heal up against aggressive strategies. And, in off-meta land, there exists Lara’s Philosopher, a board-based combo deck that aims to bury Philosopher of Death and then use Lara to put it into play on turn 5. This leaves you with 19/19 worth of stats and 3 big wards as early as turn 5. The deck utilizes a lot of neutral followers so Demonic Procession tutors your combo pieces. While not super consistent, it’s a lot of fun and can catch wins here and there. With more support, it could become a real contender. One of the Grand Prix featured decks is a PhilosopheTyrant hybrid deck as well. Manasurge Aggro Gamewith Undead Parade Atomy Manasurge Traditional Atomy Manasurge Deathbringer Tyrant みさお's Top 16 Minthe Tyrant ft. Aenea Chu2718281828's Lara Philosopher Bloodcraft Bloodcraft is still relatively rare, but at least there are more archetypes to talk about this time around! Turbo Flauros Blood is arguably still the most popular, but has been hit hard by meta trends. Flauros’ success was mainly that it could go under Skullfane, but without that matchup things are a lot rougher. Storm Rune is incredibly unfavored, as is Elana Haven, which makes Flauros much riskier on ladder. In response, some players have started teching in Darkfeast Bat. One archetype that has seen more promise is Aggro Jormungand, the more traditional form of aggressive Blood decks. Aggro Jorm made top 16 in JCG, and was featured recently on Shadowverse Wins, so despite being fairly low on both Manasurge and Gamewith’s tier lists, it may be better than Flauros right now. Lastly, we need to talk about Control Blood. A few commenters were upset that I didn’t feature Cblood in my last report, but this time it at least made top 16 in JCG so things have improved… marginally. Sure, it can beat aggro and make combo decks cry, but you have to dodge Rune to do well, and right now dodging Rune is basically impossible. Play at your own risk. Manasurge Turbo Flauros Katsura___desu’s Aggro Jorm レう゛ァ's Top 16 JCG Control Blood Havencraft Ironically, it may have been Havencraft that most benefited from Skullfane’s nerf. Without their flagship deck, players have experimented with a lot of Haven decks that received new toys, to a much greater degree than when Eternal Awakening was first released. Immediately after the nerf, most players jumped on Selena Summit Haven, an aggressive deck with an almost unbelievable amount of burst. It helped that Eternal Awakening didn’t give that many useful cards to Summit, so its build was pretty much figured out. The main new addition you’ll see is Redeemer’s Cudgel, which is an incredibly cheap removal option. Some players are running Kel instead to help shore up the aggro mirror. Summit Haven happens to be one of the most unfair aggro decks, and is still quite popular. With Skullfane gone, Elana Haven has room to flourish and truly embrace new cards. Wandering Chef is great in the deck, as are new cards Will, Io, and Fluffy Angel. Elana has become the premier aggro buster of the format, and is pretty popular both on ladder and JCG. In recent days, it’s even been more popular than Summit. Ward Haven got several players 5 wins in round one of the GP, but has fallen off severely since then. Ward occupies a similar meta niche to Elana, but Elana is better overall. It’s possible there’s a way to hybridize the concepts to make a better deck, but right now it seems like pure Elana is the way to go if you want a Haven deck to beat aggro. In the land of meme and unestablished decks, Haven has two this time around. Sometimes, when a deck is good in Rotation, that means its core is strong enough for Unlimited. Both off-meta decks test the assumption, but it’s unclear whether they will be found worthy. Unlimited Sanctuary is similar to the Sanctuary Haven builds from Storm of Rivayle, plus some of the better healing cards from Eternal Awakening and that exist in Unlimited. Functionally, it is similar to Elana and occupies a similar niche. It remains to be seen whether it can compete on equal footing with Elana as an anti-aggro deck. Unlimited Rally looks at the success of Goddess of the West Wind in Rotation and says, “I can do better.” While the West Wind package is basically the same, it benefits from the addition of Unlimited cards. The featured list runs Wise Merman as it’s only UL exclusive card, while the Grand Prix winning deck takes advantage of Loki and Feather Rush to abuse Noa in the late game. mso_sv's Selena Summit Gamewith Elana Manasurge Ward nainamahaishin's UL Sanctuary fanofkeymagic1 UL Rally Portalcraft Artifact Portal is a somewhat rare sight on today’s ladder. Gone are the days when Artifact was tier 0, or when an early Shion would win you the game. Instead, Portal players have to contend with a major weakness: Rune. Both Storm and Dimension Shift pose significant problems for Artifact. Storm is incredibly fast and can deal with Shion boards, and even going for taunts and heals with Mechanization and Syntonization isn’t a sure way to win. Dimension Shift is usually comboing on turn 6 and doesn’t present much of a board, making it difficult for Artifact to OTK with Radiants before they kill you. If that wasn’t bad enough, even matchups that are theoretically Artifact favored are difficult. For instance, unskilled players will probably deck themselves against Elana. As a consequence, the only ones really playing it right now are the APM gods, so if you do see one, watch out! In terms of build, Artifact is still the same 36ish core cards with 4 tech slots. The featured list this week is using 2x Nilpotent Entity and 2x Path to Purgatory in those slots, but you can tech in Ines, Mugnier, Seraphic Blades, or even weirder cards like Mechanical Designs if you really want. Path to Purgatory Artifact
Final Thoughts
Out with the new, in with the old. Storm Rune is back on top with a vengeance. Maiser has taken the deck over the top. At least this time the deck to beat has a high skill ceiling, and I don't think Storm is currently as oppressive as Skullfane or Artifact Portal used to be. With the mini-expansion coming soon, Storm may not be on top for very long either. Despite being pretty polarized, this is still one of the best Unlimited metas in a long time. Most classes have multiple decks that can do well on ladder, and that diversity is a breath of fresh air. And while I want the mini to help some struggling classes like Blood and take Rune down a peg, hopefully the next meta will be as wide open as this one. Thanks for reading and happy queuing!
Ghost of Tsushima 2 - The Ultimate discussion (Spoilers for Ghost of Tsushima)
So, I know these types of posts have been beaten to death, but I thought I would make one and go in to detail on certain subjects, and maybe gets some discussions going in the comments.
Section 1 - Story
In this area, there are 4 paths that Sucker Punch could travel down:
Continue Jin's arc
Explore Jin's past
Experience the story of an existing character in the Ghost universe
Delve in to the tale of a brand new character
Personally, I think Jin's story came to a great end. He defended Tsushima, fended off the invaders, and either prevented or severely cushioned the invasion to the mainland. I think it would be fitting for Jin to become a local Tsushima legend that is passed down and exalted among the local for generations to come. This also seems to be intended by the developers, because you can see in some of the concept art in The Art of Ghost of Tsushima, there are pictures showing the citizens of Tsushima erecting a large statue of Jin on the side of a mountain. So personally, I think we should play as Jin's son, so let me explain. So Jin is in his mid 30s or so during the events of Ghost, and since he is declared a threat by the Shogun. Since Ghost is in an alternate universe, I think the 2nd Mongol invasion should happen later, maybe around 1300. Some ideas on how the storylines plays out follow below:
The Shogun sends samurai forces to Tsushima to secure the followers of the Ghost to ensure a rebellion doesn't happen
Jin hides for a period of time in his Dawn Refuge to avoid being captured by the Shogun's forces
A follower of the Ghost is captured by the Shogun's forces and is tortured to reveal Jin's whereabouts
After a session of hunting for food, Jin returns to Dawn Refuge to find the Shogun's forces waiting for him
Jin and Yuna narrowly escape on a ship bound to the mainland
The ship makes landfall near Kyoto
Timeleap a few years to Jin and Yuna living in a remote house outside of Kyoto with a child
I won't add more details than this, but I feel like something along these lines could work, and then Jin's son will help fight off the 2nd Mongol invasion on the mainland as an employed ronin under Lord Oga. He could struggle with his lineage, due to his father being an enemy of the Shogun, and then maybe at the end of the game, Jin's son could travel back to Tsushima to learn just how much of a legend his father was. Perhaps there could be some awesome moments where you fight alongside elderly Jin, and possibly have him die a heroic death.
Section 2 - World
This is a very important section. The world of Ghost of Tsushima is one of the best things about it, and to see what Sucker Punch achieved on PS4 makes me super excited to see what they can achieve on PS5, due to the PS4 hardware holding back a lot of their development ideas. Something I would like to see is much more urban areas, and that is why I have Kyoto be a large part of the game. Being able to see festivals, crowds, lots of cool interiors and such... Sucker Punch used their fantastic particle effects to make the natural world of Ghost of Tsushima feel alive with grass blowing, pollen and leaves fluttering, and rain feel real, and I wonder if they can use similar techniques but with crowds of people. Of course, it would still be awesome to have the signature Ghost of Tsushima lush environments, possibly different ones than in the initial game. I would love to see more snowy areas, and not just barren, light snow like the first game, but deep snow on tall mountains, like some of the concept art.
Section 3 - Gameplay
I feel like there is a lot of possible innovation that could be done on the already fantastic gameplay laid out by Sucker Punch. One thing I feel like has a lot more potential is stealth. There are already the mechanics to crawl under houses or through vents, so vent takedowns should definitely be implemented, and the ability to go prone would be useful. The climbing in Ghost was alright, but I feel that there is a lot of potential between it and the grappling hook. Perhaps on some surfaces, Jin can use ashiko (climbing claws) for some Breath of the Wild-style climbing up surfaces made out of wood like buildings or trees, but not cliff faces and such, which is where the grappling hook or climbable edges will come in handy like the first game. I would also like more idle activities to do. The onsen, bamboo cutting, and haiku writing were fun, but it was not something that I would do over and over for merit. The addition of fishing would be nice, and perhaps eating the fish would give you resolve or could open the possibility of a cooking mechanic, or even sell to trappers for supplies. Sword and other weapon sharpening seems like a likely thing as well. A location that you could return to for weapon training would be a useful addition, since in Ghost you got a single time to train. Perhaps you could train with Jin. More additions to gameplay would include more means of transportation, such as carts, rowboats, and owning multiple horses. The flute mechanic was fantastic, and more songs being added would be great, such as ones that not only change the weather, but the time of day. For example, a song called ‘Blanket of Darkness’ could change the time of day to midnight, and then you could adjust the weather from there. Maybe even expand off from just the flute, and add a couple other instruments such as biwa or horagai. The amount of tools and gadgets was perfect in the first game, and I don’t feel like it needs to be expanded upon, but I would like to see the quickthrough method from Legends implemented in, where you just have to hold R1 and then the corresponding face button. One more major thing is for animations to be more polished and a little more natural, such as dismounting your horse.
Section 4 - Customization
The Ghost of Tsushima customization was fantastic. The amount of upgrades and dye variations was great, although there were a little too many headbands in my opinion. One thing that I feel should be expanded is the sword kit customization. Something to add is the ability to customize the katana and tanto separately, and to customize each part, like the tsuka and the blade. The addition of more weapons is a must, like polearms such as yari and naginata, more swords such as odachi, and the addition to dual wield. A system like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla I think would be very fitting- 2 weapon slots. This would fit well by being able to mix and match, like dual wielding katana or tanto, and if you equip a long weapon such as a yari or naginata, that would use up both slots. Anyway, those are my 2 cents or 50 cents or 100 dollars, whatever you want to call it. Feel free to pander these and kick up some discussion in the comments. Peace.
"This is why we fight. And to be honest, I like a good fight. The adrenaline spike of battle. The rush. The challenge. And now that I've admitted that, I'll admit something else: Lately, it's been scaring me that I like it. That I look forward to it so much."
Here's the situation: Earth is under attack by a race of parasitic slug-like aliens known as Yeerks. They slither into your head through your ear canal and fold over your brain, slowly taking control of you. Anyone and everyone you know could secretly be a Yeerk, waiting for the right time to infest you too. This nightmare was reality for the Animorphs, five young kids (and an alien) given Andalite morphing technology that let them absorb the DNA of animals and transform into them. One of the original six Animorphs and the bruiser of the team. While Rachel was just a pretty ordinary teenage gymnast/shopping enthusiast before getting her morphing powers, the thrill of combat lead her to developing a love for fighting. This violent streak would prove as both an asset and a detriment to the Animorphs over the course of their war against the Yeerks. Her two combat morphs - the elephant and the grizzly bear - are easily among the strongest morphs anyone on the team has. Feats are tagged like this, with the first # being the number of the book in the series and the second being the chapter number. Hover over a feat for the tag.
B#C# - Main series
C#C# - Chronicles series
M#C# - Megamorphs series
Feats from Megamorphs 4 are from an alternate reality where the characters never got morphing powers, and feats from book 32 are from a time when Rachel was split into two Rachels. These should all be equivalent to the original Rachel. For Rachel's Super-Rachel form from book 48, check out this comment.
Hello, fellow Commanders! Happy New Year and I hope everyone had a great Wintersday! With the New Year upon us (unless you follow one of the other calendars where this is still part of your current year), I decided to put down some of my QoL wishes for the game. I am not going to touch on things like the Armory/Templates, WvW Alliances and overhaul, or general content delivery. These things are knowingly in development (for better or worse) and/or have been beaten like a dead dolyak. I put them in three categories in terms of assumed effort.
The Little Things
Resizable Hero Panel - If a dynamic resizing option is too much, how about a couple of size options?
Add/Fix over-purchase warnings for a number of items in the Gem Store including Bank Tabs, Mount Licenses, etc.
Allow an Option to disable infusion effects (self and/or others).
Add better Options guidance for players with Motion Sickness (highlights or tags).
Update HoT Achievements to use a different color to mimic PoF implementation.
Update the HoT Specialization Collection icons to use the Elite Spec icons like PoF ones.
Add right-click skin previews in Achievement Collections.
Update the first few LS map currency nodes to unique map icons (i.e. Bloodstone Crystals).
Significant But Not Excessive
Mystic Forge Overhaul - The Refill button was a nice addition, but after 8 years I think it's time we get unlockable recipes and make the MF more akin to the crafting experience. Leave out the Discovery tab, of course.
Arah Story Mode Update - For me, this is largely fixing the glitchy graphic experience with the airship sequences.
Infusion Overhaul - Change how visual infusions are implemented. Allow us to disable individual infusion effects similar to head and shoulder pieces. There is probably another level of infusion overhaul that could be implemented, but this is the main goal.
Hero Panel Overhaul - The primary objective is to separate Account and Character bound information, but also provide better account visibility on any character.
Separate the Hero Panel into two main tabs: Account and Character. Masteries, Achievements, and Crafting get moved to the Account tab (see Crafting below). Maybe the Legendary Armory would also go into the Account tab?
Add an Account Overview tab (new default page)
Move the Log-in Rewards and Account Bonuses here from the Achievement Summary tab.
Show major account items - Gems, Gold, Karma, Laurels, AP, Mastery Rank, PvP Rank, WvW Rank
Add Major Gem Store Upgrade Statuses (in an x/y format) - Bank Tabs, Shared Inventory Slots, Crafting Licenses, Build Storage, Storage Expanders, Living Story Chapters, Expansions, Deluxe Upgrades
Crafting - Make all crafting disciplines visible from any character. Include a section to show what your max level amongst characters is. Disciplines not on on the current character would show in a different color.
Masteries - Change the format of this tab to function more like Achievements to provide more useful information. Add individual pages for each Mastery that includes the text and rewards/unlocks.
Wardrobe - Implement the Equipment Template tabs in the Wardrobe tab so we can make changes to all equipped items without having to navigate through the panel so much.
Achievement Skin Rewards - Move the Zenith Weapons (and add the Hellfire and Radiant Armor) achievement progress reward skins to an "Achievement Reward" collection group with appropriate collections.
Achievements - There have been a few posts regarding improvements to this over time and a good portion of my inspiration comes from those.
Content Driven - Add metadata to achievements that allow dynamic content tabs such as "Mount Races," "Map Meta Events," and "Group Content." Achievements should drive players to content and be relevant to where you are. If I open the Achievement tab in Lion's Arch Aerodrome, it should default to the Raid category. Similar to if I'm in Bloodstone Fen, it should default to the "Out of the Shadows" category. There are more extensive posts focused on using this to drive content so I will leave it at that.
Visibility/Filter Improvements - The filters are great to target AP, rewards, etc, but it would be nice if you could view multiple categories at a time with another filter option, even if it's only within a category header (e.g. Raids). Adding a "Hide Completed" filter would be nice. (There are achievements with no rewards, AP or MP.) Adding filters for HoT, PoF, LS2, etc would be nice since achievements for releases can span multiple categories.
Organization - Aside from the Content Driven changes that would drive some layout changes an overall category overhaul is probably warranted. There is a consistency issue across the eras of the game. I would really like to see story instance achievements separated from open-world map achievements in some way and not having to mouse over every achievement in a category for the chapter's 30-40 achievements. Using different icons would be a simple starting point. Somewhere along the way, "Story Journal" categories became about the entire release and not story instances. I suspect this is likely due to the inclusion of "all" achievements being included in the meta-achievement and not just story instance ones. I would much prefer collections to end up in the appropriate collection category too.
BLTC Collection Improvements - Highlight collections that are currently available from the BLTC for tickets and in the BL Chests. Evon demands more promotional activity.
Guild Missions - Where to begin? There have been a few posts for this as well, along with a recent WoodenPotatoes video talking a bit about it and I lean on those for a lot of the details.
Bounties updated for power creep. Add existing PoF/LS Bounties.
Add Mount Races to the Races category.
Overhaul all the challenges for power creep (or to scale better).
Add Raids, Strikes, and DRMs.
Add new Bounties and Challenges. One suggestion for a Challenge would be to replay the "Claim the Guild Hall" event with additional challenges on demand.
Add Meta Events, Hero Points, Jumping Puzzles, etc similar to what Monthly achievements used to be. This would certainly drive more active content on top of the Daily system. I think using existing content is certainly an easy way to go.
This Will Take Some Work
Graphics Engine Upgrade - Yes, I know this falls into the dolyak abuse category, but with a 3rd expansion on the horizon (and 8+ years), it's time. My personal opinion is that if money is an issue, ANET (or NCSOFT) should consider crowdfunding this type of update since there isn't a sub for the game.
Original Personal Story Cleanup - I think a solid QoL pass on the original story content could make for a difference in the new player experience and encourage repeatability. Selective scenes could be updated to use the newer "style" too. (For the record, I think the original 1-on-1 dialogue scenes are a great experience if used properly. I think there are scenes in newer content that could warrant using that scene style still. It makes it feel more direct and personal.)
On-Demand Server Switching - Districts from GW1. Allow us to manually change megaserver map instances without having to rely on the party system and "Join in xxx."
(FIXED FORMATTING) Joking title aside, because obviously those who have done this before me know what they're talking about, I thought it might be fun to throw my personal opinions into the pot. This is coming from somebody who has almost 3,000 hours poured into this game. And has beaten this game solo countless times. my goal of this guide isn't to change the minds of people who know what they're doing and have adopted their strategies around their own experiences. But rather to help those that are either just starting out or really want that ever so elusive flying solo achievement on steam. Now keep in mind these are just my opinions, and if you disagree, or know something I don't. Feel free to let me know! You can always learn more right?. So let's get into this. Starting with character creation stats. STR: some people will tell you you don't really need this. And while there's some merit to this.. do you really want to give up the belt of inertial barrier for the privilege of being able to haul around all the magical items you're going to find? The answer should be no. You're also going to spend a little bit of time in melee with people that are asleep in early baldur's gate 1. Make your life easier. DEX: if you're playing as a solo sorcerer you're playing as an elf. For reasons that are done to death. so do yourself a favor and Max this. you can get 19 you want 19. CON: DON'T BE A NOOB. u only want 16. Why? U get no benefit from going beyond that. INT: this is NOT your casting stat. This is not important to u. Your stopping points are 11 or 16. For those annoying mind flayers. Just make sure you have enough to cast scrolls, and use wands. WIS: ah yes, the endless debate. Is Wish worth it or not? Personally? Eh. If you can afford a high total here. Get it. Otherwise? Honestly don't sweat it. Wish resting is super important. In the super late fights. But even at 18. You will only get that option like 15% of the time. Which means reloads. So if you only have like 15? Just reload more and don't sweat it. Besides, if u don't have a high total here u can use potions for wish. U can really tank this as far as u want in that case. CHA: dump it. Fuck it. Ring of human influence is available to you. LITERALLY at the start of the game by the circus tent. Why bother? Do the limbo with this stat. Ah. Spells Glorious spells. It's the lifeblood of your character. For the the newer players out there. When u choose a spell at level up for sorcerer. You are stuck with it. So it's important not to gimp yourself. And plan ahead with what you need, what items you will get. And what areas you will do first. That being said let's jump into it 1st level: okay okay okay hear me out. Taking magic missile at first level. Really isn't that optimal. It does almost no damage at first level. Your path should look like this C:Blindness - single target "fuck you" C: Sleep. -multi target "fuck you" I know you can get this from a wand... But honestly who cares it's a level one spell. The difference is negligible. 3: Magic missile - greywolf + Blindness + ring of 2x 1lvl spells + mm = target practice. 5: Sheild. Archers. Are annoying. we take this not because the spell is particularly amazing but because with combination with the boots you get from transig, in the cloak of displacement, it makes you unhittable from (traditional) missile damage from all but like three sources... That's pretty good utility from a level one spell.. 7: Spook. This spell can be used forever. Optional spells Friends: for the money Protection from petrification: I guess if you're having a really hard time against basilisks, but even then just buy the scrolls, and forget about it. Protection from evil: a lot of people swear by this. I've never found a need for it. You get it for free with SOM. Your call. 2nd level So it's impossible to talk about the second level. Without talking about mirror image and knock. You are soloing. You need knock. You do not need it immediately. If you maxed strength. You should be plenty strong enough to wail away at most of the early game locks. Plus play as lawful neutral, get the ferret, pick pockets. Profit. Don't take invisibility. Don't be lazy. Buy a protection from undead scroll. And go kill the lich in the city Gates. Get the ring, get it for free. (Bg2 start only) 4:Mirror image. "Stayin alive" - beegees 5: Knock. You could honestly get away with taking this at 7. But it will cost you monetarily. 7:Web. You know what is even funnier than a big group of baddies taking a nap? A big group of baddies taking a nap, wrapped in spider webs. 9: Blur. Why do we take this. Because it stax with invis. Why do we take it now? Because we can't get invis till now 11: Resist fear. Dragons be big and scary Level 3. Bread and butter level. We got some of our best stuff here. So here's some advice. Don't be stupid. Take melfs first... Also.... WHY DIDNT U TAKE FLAME ARROW WTF. Here's why. If we're picking up skull trap, and we're picking up flame arrow. When we cast one we lose a cast of the other... So we aren't gaining any offensive power. I would rather have 1d6 uncapped magical damage in a radius. Then mega single Target damage. That is very heavily resisted. Does this mean it's a bad spell? No. there are very little things cooler than stacking up three of these in a sequencer. Being level 20. And sending 12 total arrows at something. Instantly. Swiss cheese. EDIT: after some careful thought, some testing..and a very informative discussion with some comments. I'm revising this somewhat. This level depends on if you start bg1, or bg2.... I stand by my initial list of level 3 spells. Maybe substituting slow for protection from fire. However. I've added spells in parentheses. Take these instead if you are starting off in bg1. 6: MMM. Do I even need to explain this. (Edit, I'm here formatting so I might as well). These set your attacks per round to five. Hit as +5. Receive some hidden bonus to thAC0. Do 1d4+3 +3 fire. 5d4 +30 per round, average of 42.5 damage per round. At level 6.... 85 with improved haste on....at level 12. 6.(protection from fire) (this let's you use the necklace of fireball with reckless abandon. Need I say more) 7: Skull trap. What's more badass than throwing around skulls that explode. Throwing around skulls that explode that do ass loads of damage. 7 (MMM) (the difference between skull trap and fireball, which you will get from the necklace. Is non-existent at this point in the game. Except you can't make yourself immune to skull trap, and the radius is slightly smaller, but Melf's is always useful,*) 9: Haste. This spell really comes into its own when you get summons. But moving extra fast is a nice quality of life fix. And in the meantime it's an extra mmm atack. This also makes kiting easier.
(Skull trap) (we are preparing for baldur's gate 2 with this, we don't get to keep the necklace of fireballs. And we really don't want to be without this when we start)
11: Protection from Fire, Another change, the bonus this gives really is just too good. We are taking this for more than firkraag but also just general utility and being able to Spam fire wands wherever the hell we want. We take this earlier in bg1 to use the necklace wherever we want.
(Haste) (between the two, slow and Haste, haste is more useful for buffing your summons, you definitely want Haste before level 22. Hense, why it's here, you also don't lose a lot, putting it here unless you took spider spawn. Which again isn't a bad pick. Especially if you take it at level 11, meeting you can immediately get the ability to haste phase spiders. And sword spiders next level. That being said, the level 4 circle is just so precious and full of things that you will cast, forever)
22: Remove magic. U need it.... But let me explain when we don't need it till now.... By the time that you really start to have to strip protections off of stuff.. you will have access to summons, so you just use the wand of spell striking and have your summons beat them up. at least you will if you follow the way that I go about this game, the reason we take this now, is because it's an AOE, strep for a lot of late game, large fights. Some people will tell you that you "need" this earlier. And those people aren't "wrong" and neither am I, we just solved the issue different ways, I solved it with a different path through the game, and they solved it by taking the spell earlier. Alternative picks: Protection from fire: some real shenanigans here, makes the necklace of fireballs in bg1 a real WMD. Credit: jjames3213 Lvl 4. Lots more stuff you need here. Definitely Stoneskin. There is an argument not to take improved invisibility, and that's if you start in bg2. You can buy the Ring of air control. To get it for free. This is a good point. But it is expensive. So I will let you decide. The counter argument to this is, outside of this the rest of the spells kind of suck. EDIT: s.o let's talk about spider spawn for a moment, is the spell good... Well that depends on when you're casting it. And if you have the enhanced edition. Don't quote me on this and somebody let me know in the comments. but I don't believe in the original version of the game, this spell was available. It's been years and I could be wrong. But I believe the spell was added in bg2. If you were taking this in bg1. The spell will end encounters. And even part way through bg2. That being said. I've never found it strictly necessary. Like I was truly up against the wall without it. However you might! So I'll give you the choice. If you really seem to be struggling. Particularly around the level 8 9 and 10 range. Either late bg1 for fresh out chateau irenicus. Pick this up it'll make your life easier, I just prefer to stack Spirit armor with improved invisibility. Because that boost lasts longer, several enemies will struggle to hit -10 or so armor class throughout shadows of amn EDIT: even more questions about spider spawn, so here let me hit you with the fax If you start the game out and you've gone through the saga, bg1, sod, you will start the game with 500,000 experience, you will be level 11, then you will get another 120 or so in chateau irenicus. Now we're knocking on level 12, by the time we do the circus tent, Skinner murders, copper Coronet slavers, the city Gates ambush, kill the lich in the city Gates, reinfeild, sewers, we will be level 13. We get death spell and tear through trade meet and the keep we are at 14 and we get animate dead summons next level.. at no point during this early game were the spiders necessary, or even missed, if we start the game out just out of bg1 gate 1, after doing all of that we are just shy of level 14, same goes with a fresh bg2 run (although it requires you to do part of trademeet without death spell) at that point it's not worth the pick. So what about bg1? Well if you are playing through the entire saga it's important to remember you only get two here. One at level eight and one at level nine, and you don't get the next until level 11. Making it through all of the aforementioned early quests without Stoneskin, or the ability to not be targeted by mages is a big deal. And something you will struggle with. However if you are playing through JUST BG1 then there is a legitimate argument for it. But even then, only 20% of the time you will get two spiders. Meaning that just by action economy alone (more attacks coming in that out) during all of the fights that you really want this to tank for you it gets destroyed, and you don't even get the ability to cast a ton of these until the cap.... At which you can cast 4...and then pray that nothing goes wrong and you didn't need Stone skin... So.u will probably cast 3, then a copy of Stoneskin. and you can't get high enough level to get access to sword spiders. And even though it synergizes with web, Melf's lets u do 204 damage to someone over 4 rounds at level 6. And held enemies don't take rolls. So u will hit every damn one of them and keep rolling through them. And if they're held anyway in all you're using it to synergize with web, then you can nuke him with the necklace of fireball or skull traps late game while he's held anyway and use melfs to keep dps up and cast every 4th throw? Your own character out Dps's these things, but that doesn't mean it's not a bad strategy, it is a less spell slot intensive strategy, hense, a good argument for it only in bg1, but then presented with the issue, that the spell is not available in the original game, so if I include it or you play original, then you are SOL, hense, no mention here 8: Stoneskin. "Stayin alive' - beegees 9: Improved invisibility. Don't get targeted by spells. Stacks with Spirit armor and blur. Makes you all but immortal in the first game. Staff of the Magi makes this somewhat unneeded... But do you know how far away that is?? If you are going to take spider spawn. Take it here. And take improved invisibility next. 11: Spirit armor: It STACKS with other buffs, between this, blur, and improved invisibility, this will set your AC to -10, ALONE. Becomes godly if you are a fighter mage. It becomes your religion if you're a kensai mage. While and later game, AC becomes irrelevant, if u are playing through the first game, an argument exists to take this before Stoneskin. -10AC in bg1> 1d4+X skins..... while the inverse is true in bg2. But for those playing through the saga, u can't afford to get Stoneskin untill 11 in bg2. So it stays here. 13: Minor sequencer. The possibilities here are truly endless. Make sure you rest after you've cast it to get the spells back. If we were being brutally honest about what is optimal. You could take wizard Eye here to abuse project image even more. I don't like doing this I know that minor sequencer at this point in the game isn't an enormous boost, if you are looking to 100% maximize yourself, take wizard eye and pull off project image shenanigans next level. 23: Greater malison. You need this but not until now. Until this point you should have no issue getting people to fail the saves. Lvl 5. A few words. Don't take breach. Don't take cloudkill. You get the wand of cloudkill at the lich in city Gates. U can do this almost immediately. You also get it in chateau irenicus. Just sell it and buy it back for $10,000, you are a sorcerer you should have tons of money. Now you have more cloud kills than you ever need. Especially with project image. Don't take breach. Get the wand of spell striking. You'll hardly need it anyway. the only thing you'll need it for is throwing melfs at a Target. And letting animate dead summons pound away at something. Just get the wand. Save yourself the hassle. By the time you will need it. you will be able to get to the second floor of washers keep. Or do the planar prison quest. I believe the wand is found in these two areas someone let me know in the comments. 10: Spell immunity. This is not to be debated. Shower the room in skull traps and become immune (original game only). Throw a ton of webs around, make yourself immune, Prevent mages from ruining your arcane pizza party. With SI:D This is even more important later. To keep your images alive and to keep you from being thrown millions of feet underground by kangaxx. 11: Lower resistance. If you can't figure out why we need this spell. Then I'm not sure I can help you. 13: Chaos. Between this and web. And eventually greater mallison, the battlefield will be your clay. And you are the artist. The benefits of this are. Keep people from attacking you. Maybe they attack each other. Maybe they wander back into the webs. Plus other than domination I can't think of another spell here that's any good. 15: Animate dead. Don't take this till now it's a massive waste. The skeleton warriors are awesome. Walk him into the webs, walk him into the cloud kill. Commit war crimes. 23: spell Sheild. There aren't any better options here. And it gives you some added protection against some of the harder enemies of the game. You would definitely take this earlier if you are running with SCS. Demogorgon and planetars love to dispell your shit. Level 6. Allow to to explain why we don't take mislead. Staff of the Magi is most likely available to u by the time u get the must haves out if the way. Were u a mage, it's superrr important. But because u gotta wait till after lvl 21. Probably not for u. Also. PFMW is awesome It's fantastic. But it's best on fighter mages. U probably won't cast it. Because nothing is targeting u. And if u have to cast it. Your probably dead anyway. We will still take it. But much later. EDIT: * I know that it's blasphemous to talk about PFMW this way but let me explain* Pfmw is a crutch, it makes you totally immune to damage for the most part for four rounds. But see look, if at any point you need to be totally immune to damage for only four rounds, then you have already fucked up, between buff stacking, invisibility, Stone skin mirror image. What exactly is hitting you? If you're getting dispelled that's your own fault you have spell immunity?? after level 14 you'll be fighting with your project images for the most par? If they get hit it's not a big deal. I recognize it's really important to deal with mind flayers. But animate dead summons do that too.. and then soon after this you'll be getting staff of the Magi. And now there is absolutely no reason to even be targeted by anything less than demogorgon and the ravager. Fights after you get the staff really just kind of break down into you casting spells and then immediately equipping it and watching them stand around like a shooting gallery. And for fights that you need to be protected totally, like melison and demogorgon just buy the scroll for it? Were we playing SCS this would be a different conversation, but we're not considering even going invisible with the non detection cloak on makes even demogorgon scratch his head like Dora just asked him where you are..(I know demogorgon can Target through invisibility this is put in put in as a joke) (ha ha funny man I is). The main argument for it is a backup plan. But it only lasts four rounds so you would have to time it, and even then contingency just does its job better in that case.... This spell is overrated for solo sorcerer runs. Same thing as breach it's overrated. it's also important to remember that I'm playing through the game as I write this, writing guides to guide other players through it. if you don't believe me try it and I think you'll find that it's not as necessary as you believe. That being said it's never been bad to have. 12: Improved haste. Melt the trade meet genie's with 10 apr melfs under invis. Give kangaxx his retirement papers. Give a mord sword or planetar the power of God and anime and watch them launch the 4th 5th and 6th crusade on the underdark denizens. Casting this on the genie u get from the flask will end early encounters. Same thing with kithix and iron horn of valhalla. People that say that there isn't anything to cast this on in bg2 solo are wrong and I don't know a nicer way to put it. 13: Death spell. Fuck trolls. Fuck umber hulk's. Fuck summons, this spell makes the keep a bane in gotham moment. Again this is an instance of choosing your path through the game. When eventually my guides get to here, you'll see we get this spell right before we do the dearnise keep, and even outside of that this spell ends tons of encounters through shadows of amn. You won't use it forever, but that's okay because there's only 4 spells in this entire circle that you will, so this becomes a massive utility and boost pick at the time.
True sight. I personally...like to know what is hitting me. And I personally.... Like to cast spells at things. This let's u do both.
21: contingency. WHAT a CHANGE. yup, I thought about it....while PFMW is great oh shit spell. So is this, and u don't even have to cast it...set it to invisibility on helpless or hit and have the cloak of non detection on and u are gravy. U can even use this offensively as well. I'm sorry to everyone and my mother for not putting this in first. 30: protection from magical weapons.. another change!!! Yes. It's better late than never I suppose 😂 and your utiliy from protection from magical energy is given to u from your cloak of mirroring. Lvl 7. Your level 31 pick here is honestly uneeded. Pick whatever u want. 14: Project image. Copy your whole spell book. Make yourself god. Become Doctor strange in that scene with dormammu. I've come to bargain 15: Mord swords. Do u remember that scene in disney's "sword in the stone"? With the brooms that clean on their own? Image them. But sharp. And bloodthirsty. And immune to all damage except magical. Shudder 17: Spell sequencer. Become the arcane gatling gun. U want damage. Here's damage. U wanna make everyone run for their lives and have existential breakdowns trapped underneath the unforgiving webs as massive skeletal husks crush their bones? U can do that too. Oh happy day. 22: Mass invisability same thing but...say it with me. INVISIBLE skeletal husks crushing the bones of your enemies. Yay! Or take away any hope of targeting mord swords with magic damage! This spell is bonkers good in a party. While I know this isn't an orthodox pick for a Solo character, I challenge anybody to come up with a better pick here, at level 22... That you will use more often than this to buff your summons, possibly limited wish, but only if u have good wisdom.and arnt using potions. You wouldn't take Ruby Ray unless you're playing SCS, in which case you would take it earlier. You could take finger of death, and then save scum for the insta kill. But that's no fun and I can't recommend that, even if it wasn't, all undead all the bosses all Bhaalspawn, planetars, are immune to this, so what the fuck are you casting it at? And even then. Triple cast malison, cast FOD, you're doing so much work to kill one person.. when triple cast ADHW does that same thing in an AOE??? Like? Just don't. Delay blast fireball will kill liches... But so does ADHW. this is a situational spell you won't use it all the time but you will use it. Hence why it's here. the only thing I can bet is power word stun to just absolutely end mage encounters. 31: Power word stun. What if I told u that even at epic levels most mages don't have more than 90 hp? Ik ik. Le t chaos ensue. to be honest this spell slot doesn't matter much, again same thing here anything you pick here is just going to be non-consequential at level 31. Pick whatever you want here it doesn't matter.. Level 8. We don't take fire cloud (I can't spell it) for the same reason as no flame arrow. U could probably get away with pierce shield at 19 if u did alllll The side quests. I don't so. 16: ADHW. DAMAGE. All the damage. How much damage? Yes. I personally go with this over incendiary cloud because it works on everything in the game. Even though the cloud will do more damage over time. It's utility is not the same, and chaining these together, is a big part of killing big bads, specifically the kind that the cloud won't scratch. So even though the cloud might fuck up rakshasa and liches admittedly better, I'd rather have coverage for Melissan and demogorgons head. 17: Spell trigger. Cast what u want. When u want it. It's your spells and you need them now! 19: power word Blind. Blindness with no saving throw in an AOE. turn mages into totem poles. Cast instantly. If u have never used this u are missing out. Those that play SCS or hardcore know the bustedness if this spell. Take my word for it. 23: Peirce shield. U kind of need this. Demogorgon says hi. Ravager wants to know your location. This spell sucks. You will likely only use it 2x. But. You are solo. U have no other options. Edit: after some testing I learned you can make it all the way to 23 without needing this. Fantastic news. Alternative picks Incindiary cloud: potentially does more damage then ADHW. wether u take this or ADHW is up to u. Combos really good with protection from fire. Level 9 Take wish at 20 if u have great wisdom. Otherwise take it 25 Edit. I know if I really wanted to be scummy I could include imprisonment, but that spell is no fun. And I will not be recommending it sorry Also in the original game you would take shape change because, it was bugged and let you physically attack with project image. 18: Chain contingency. ITS MY SPELLS AND I NEED IT NOW 19: time stop. IA + this + rov and puke damage dice at your enemies in ways that would make ti-84s in 8th grade math classes cringe. 20: Spellstrike,. Those are nice protections.....it would be a shame if.....Something were to happen to them. 25: Wish. Wish resting is a huge part of the last battle. Just be ready to reload. Planetar-IA-L6-DB- after that it doesn't matter. I'm going to have a gear walk through, with the order that I think would be optimal to run through the game. What items to pick up first. How much gold you would get and what to spend it on coming soon! Let me know if you disagree in the comments. Or if you'd even be interested in another guide. Thanks! Edit: sorry about the formatting. I don't know why it did that. Working on a fix
Seen a request for a megathread so thought I'd chuck this up. Should update every minute and just pulls from BBC transfer page. This was rushed, might not work properly and twitter links aren't working nicely but figured better than nothing. Auto-update link TRANSFERS
In: Eddie Nolan, (Crewe, loan), Jordan Roberts (Hearts, loan)
Rangers
In: Jack Simpson (Bournemouth, transfer), Scott Wright (Aberdeen, transfer)
Out: Brandon Barker (Oxford United, loan), George Edmundson (Derby County, loan), Ross McCrorie (Aberdeen, transfer)
St Johnstone
Out: Callum Hendry (Aberdeen, loan)
BBC SUMMARY
Celtic confirm Jonjoe Kenny loan deal
Rangers announce long-term deals for Jack Simpson and Aberdeen's Scott Wright; Brandon Barker and George Edmundson depart on loans
Kevin Nisbet staying at Hibernian as Stevie Mallan departs for Turkey on loan
Fraser Hornby, Flo Kamberi & Callum Hendry arrive on loan at Pittodrie, Ross McCrorie signs permanent deal after leaving Rangers
POSTS | viaBBC | rushed this, might not work properly
Time
Title
Content
0:13
The window is shut but we'll keep the live page going until 1am just in case anything happens. Clubs may make some late, late announcements. If you're off to bed then good night and thanks for joining us on the live text throughout the day. And keep an eye on the BBC Sport Scotland website for all the latest news. Remember to join us on Tuesday and Wednesday evening, where we've Scottish Premiership action. Lets see how many of these new signings make their debuts.
0:09
Who has signed who?
Here's the deals that have happened todayAberdeen In: Fraser Hornby (Reims, loan), Callum Hendry (St Johnstone, loan), Florian Kamberi (St Gallen, loan), Ross McCrorie (Rangers, transfer) Out: Curtis Main (Shrewsbury, transfer), Bruce Anderson (Hamilton Accies, loan), Scott Wright (Rangers, transfer) Celtic In: Jonjoe Kenny (Everton, loan) Out: Olivier Ntcham (Marseille, loan) Hamilton Academical In: Bruce Anderson (Aberdeen, loan) Hibernian Out: Stevie Mallan (Yeni Malatyaspor, loan), Jamie Gullan (Raith Rovers, loan) Kilmarnock In: Zech Medley (Arsenal, loan), Brandon Pierrick (Crystal Palace, loan) Motherwell In: Eddie Nolan, (Crewe, loan), Jordan Roberts (Hearts, loan) Rangers In: Jack Simpson (Bournemouth, transfer), Scott Wright (Aberdeen, transfer) Out: Brandon Barker (Oxford United, loan), George Edmundson (Derby County, loan), Ross McCrorie (Aberdeen, transfer) St Johnstone Out: Callum Hendry (Aberdeen, loan)
0:07
All done at Motherwell, but look out for another piece of business tomorrow. . .
0:03
Transfer window closed
That's the window closed, though as long as clubs have put through their deal before midnight they can announce them whenever they like. Hamilton say they'll reveal more tomorrow. Clubs can also still sign free agents.
23:56 1 Feb
McCrorie now officially a Don
Ross McCrorie has now joined the Dons permanently on a three-and a-half year deal. The 22-year-old midfielder, who initially arrived at Pittodrie on a season long loan, has already made 23 appearances and scored twice. McCrorie tells the official Aberdeen website: “We’ve still got a lot to play for this season, with some big games in the coming weeks, so there is much to look forward to. “It’s great to see Fraser [Hornby] joining the team, someone I know very well from Scotland Under 21 squads, and I know he’ll be a fantastic addition for us. ” https://twitter.com/AberdeenFC/status/1356389971201052674
23:53 1 Feb
Rangers confirm Wright move
Rangers confirm Scott Wright has signed a four and a half year with the Ibrox club, and joins the club straight away rather than in summer. Wright tells the official Rangers website: "I’m delighted to be here at this massive club and can’t wait to run out at Ibrox for my debut, and then hopefully in front of a full house in the not-too-distant future. “It is a real privilege to have the opportunity to work under a manager like Steven Gerrard and speaking to him and Ross Wilson, I am really impressed with how everyone at the club all have the same aims and ambitions. “I cannot wait to meet my new teammates and get started as a Rangers player. " Rangers manager Steven Gerrard said: “It is very pleasing to have Scott for the rest of this season. This will give him the opportunity to gain some valuable game time in a blue shirt for the rest of the season. “Scott is a player that I have admired and I believe that we can utilise his skill set within our system. He will train with his new teammates tomorrow. ” https://twitter.com/RangersFC/status/1356389584926633984
23:51 1 Feb
McCrorie and Wright deals imminent...
Ross McCrorie's loan from Rangers to Aberdeen about to become a permanent transfer, which surely means Scott Wright is also about to be unveiled at Ibrox, with the Dons playmaker having already agreed a pre-contract. Right, the race is on. Who is first to confirm - Aberdeen or Rangers? https://twitter.com/AberdeenFC/status/1356388944464719872
23:33 1 Feb
O'Donnell extends Motherwell contract
Not a new signing, but Scotland full-back and BBC Sportscene pundit Stephen O'Donnell has extended his Motherwell deal until the end of the season.
23:28 1 Feb
Rangers confirm Simpson transfer
Rangeras have signed defender Jack Simpson on a four and a half year deal. The 24-year-old has English Premier League experience with AFC Bournemouth, and this season has made 12 appearances in the Championship and FA Cup. Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard tells the official Rangers website: "We are delighted to have Jack here. We have been aware of him for some time and excited to finally have him. "Clearly it’s a bonus to have him here now earlier than initially planned. His presence makes us stronger and we are all looking forward to working with him. "
23:20 1 Feb
Aberdeen sign Kamberi on loan
Aberdeen have confirmed the loan signing of Florian Kamberi from Swiss side St Gallen. The former Hibs and Rangers frontman is the third striker to sign for the Pittodrie side this evening, joining Fraser Hornby and Callum Hendry. Out go Sam Cosgrove, Curtis Main and Bruce Anderson. Manager Derek McInnes tells the official Aberdeen website: "Florian has shown his quality in our league over a period of time and again, once we knew there was an opportunity to get him, we pursued it quite vigorously. "He seems enthusiastic to be here. He has got undoubted quality, experience in this league and we’re hopeful that will help him settle quicker. I’m positive he can have an impact between now and the end of the season. ” Florian will be subject to a work permit process and subsequently, won't be available to face Livingston on Tuesday evening. That means his debut could be against Hibernian at Easter Road at the weekend. https://twitter.com/AberdeenFC/status/1356381635302854663
Eddie Nolan has joined Motherwell on loan from Crewe Alexandra on loan until the end of the season. “Eddie is a vastly experienced defender and we’re glad to have him,” said manager Graham Alexander. “I’ve faced him many times with my previous teams and know what he will bring. “He can slot in anywhere across the back four, giving us good competition across all the defensive line. ” The 32-year-old started his career in the English Premier League with Blackburn Rovers, spending time on loan at Stockport County, Hartlepool United and Preston North End. Nolan has more recently spent time with York City, Blackpool and Crewe, and has been capped three times for the Republic of Ireland. https://twitter.com/MotherwellFC/status/1356376532382441474
22:56 1 Feb
What are we still waiting on?
Rangers are expected to announce a signing or two. Aberdeen have been strongly linked with Florian Kamberi. We're also keeping our ears to the door at Motherwell, St Johnstone and Hibernian. And who knows who might spring a surprise or two before the night is done. Remember, although the transfer window in England closes at 11pm, up here in Scotland we keep it going until midnight.
Curtis Main was a surprise signing for Aberdeen two seasons ago. After just seven goals in 42 appearances he's been allowed to leave to join English League One side Shrewsbury Town. Main, Sam Cosgrove and Bruce Anderson have all departed Pittodrie this evening, with Derek McInnes bringing in Fraser Hornby and Callum Hendry. There's still time for one more arrival before midnight. . . . https://twitter.com/AberdeenFC/status/1356369268196204544
22:29 1 Feb
One in, one to go at Fir Park?
Motherwell sign Jordan Roberts on loan from Hearts. And we're hearing it may not be the last signing the Fir Park club make this evening.
Hamilton Academical have signed Bruce Anderson on loan from Aberdeen until summer. The 22-year-old made a dramatic debut for the Dons at 19, coming on as a late substitute against Rangers and scoring a last-minute equaliser. Since then he's had loan spells at Dunfermline and, earlier this season, Ayr United. Accies boss Brian Rice said: “I’m delighted we’ve finally managed to add Bruce to the squad. This is one we’ve been very patient with because we have been interested in Bruce for quite some time. Thankfully we’ve managed to get it over the line on deadline day. “Bruce should fit in well with what we’re trying to do here at Hamilton. He’s a penalty box striker who will compliment the attacking options we’ve already got, so we’re looking forward to getting him started. ” Anderson will join up with the squad tomorrow and could see his first appearance on Wednesday night against Ross County.
21:50 1 Feb
Celtic latest
Jonjoe Kenny has joined Celtic on loan from Everton for the rest of the season. Celtic boss Neil Lennon wanted the 23-year-old right-back to replace Jeremie Frimpong, who last week joined Bayer Leverkusen. Lennon also hopes to sign a central defender on loan before the midnight transfer deadline. However, the club have missed out on Preston North End's Ben Davies, who has joined Liverpool. Meanwhile, Olivier Ntcham could leave Celtic before the transfer window closes, with the midfielder having been linked with Marseille in his French homeland. Read more
Kilmarnock have signed two players on loan from England - Zech Medley and Brandon Pierrick. But, it's unlikely there will be any other moves in or out tonight. Read more here
21:32 1 Feb
Kenny joins Celtic
It's not exactly been a secret, but Jonjoe Kenny joins Celtic on loan from Everton. The right-back replaces Jeremie Frimpong, who last week signed for Bayer Keverkusen. https://twitter.com/CelticFC/status/1356354512164966402
21:30 1 Feb
More Hendry
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes was happy to make his second signing of the day, signing Callum Hendry on loan from fellow Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone. He tells the official Aberdeen website: “I’m delighted we’ve managed to secure Callum on loan. He’s a player we feel can, not only give us a physical presence at the top of the pitch, but he is a player with great potential. “He arrives, along with Fraser [Hornby] and he gives us good options in the forward areas. We’re looking forward to working with him. ” Both players go straight into the squad for the visit of Livingston tomorrow night.
Zech Medley has joined Kilmarnock on loan until summer from Arsenal. The 20-year-old is described by Arsenal as a tall and powerful central defender. He spent the first half of this season on loan to English League One side Gillingham, where he made 18 appearances. That's Kilmarnock's second signing of the evening, having brought in forward Brandon Pierrick from Crystal Palace earlier. https://twitter.com/KilmarnockFC/status/1356346687627948032
21:00 1 Feb
Celtic sign duo
Celtic women's side have made two signings this evening. The wonderfully named Jacynta Galabadaarachchi joins from Napoli. And fellow forward Mariah Lee has also made the move. Summer Green, Anita Marcos & Brenda Castellano all left in January so needed replaced. Fran Alonso's side are currently third in the Scottish Women's Premier League, two points behind Rangers and Glasgow City. https://twitter.com/CelticFCWomen/status/1356316388609064960
Kilmarnock have signed Brandon Pierrick on a loan deal until the end of the season from English Premier League side Crystal Palace. The 19-year-old told the Kilmarnock website: “I’m buzzing to get started and I’m looking forward to impressing and showcasing my talent. “At Palace, they prepare us for men’s football and I’ve been researching Kilmarnock before making the move here so I can’t wait to get to work on the training pitch and meet the rest of the group. ” https://twitter.com/KilmarnockFC/status/1356335360977072130
Was probably obvious, but Reims have tweeted to confirm Fraser Hornby's move to Aberdeen is just a loan and there is no option to buy. Hornby tells Aberdeen's Red TV: Delighted to be here. It was something that I really wanted to do, and when the opportunity came about I had in my head this was the place I could come and show what I'm about. "We've been talking most of the month really about what the best thing for me to do. I wasn't playing as much as I'd like to this season due to an number of circumstances. So we had the conversation before the end of the window and this feels like the right thing to do. " You can read more on the story, and quotes from manager, here.
20:03 1 Feb
Sterling joins Morton
They teased their were signing a Champions League player earlier, and here he is at Cappielow, Kazaiah Sterling. With Scotland now having two Champions League qualification places, his chances of getting there with Morton have doubled. . . https://twitter.com/Morton_FC/status/1356331523138605056
19:52 1 Feb
Hendry next to move to Pittodrie?
St Johnstone midfielder Callum Hendry could be another addition for Aberdeen on transfer deadline day. That would make space for a late addition to Saints squad. . . the clock is ticking!
Moves for Gullan & Wighton, and what about those Stewart rumours?
Potentially one more piece of business for Hibs tonight with striker Jamie Gullan possibly heading out on loan. Dunfermline are hoping to agree deal with Hearts for Craig Wighton. The striker is in the final four months of his current deal with Hearts and the Fifers are keen on a pre-contract, but would take him now if terms were favourable. The suggestions that Rangers winger Greg Stewart could be on the move to either Motherwell or Ross County appear wide of the mark. Information is he is going nowhere for the last few months of his contract.
19:35 1 Feb
Hornby signs on loan for Aberdeen
Aberdeen have signed Scotland U21 forward Fraser Hornby on loan from French club Reims until summer. The 21-year-old former Everton frontman signed for the Ligue 1 side in summer, but has not appeared in the first team since September. Hornby has 10 goals in 18 appearances for Scotland U21s. After Aberdeen drew 0-0 for the second time in four days against Livingston on Saturday, boss Derek McInnes said the club needed a new number nine. That's one in the door, will they add another before the night is out?
Thomas Duncan has left the chat. Andrew Southwick is taking over the live text from now. First deal of the day is trying to order the gaffer a takeaway, that I told him I ordered half an hour ago.
19:17 1 Feb
You can browse a list of ALL the Premiership ins and outs from this window here.
19:16 1 Feb
What's happening?
Here's a quick recap of where we're at on this, err, quiet deadline day.
19:10 1 Feb
We've had stories on Hibs, Aberdeen, Rangers, Celtic, St Johnstone, but it's been pretty quiet at the rest of the Premiership clubs. The current global pandemic is probably the main reason for that. Still plenty of time for a few twists and turns of course!
19:06 1 Feb
Currently crawling to the finishing line in about 15 minutes, when I can get my dinner, and a brave colleague takes over. Any chance of some news?
Will Scott Wright make an impact on the Rangers team? Or will he be a squad player? What do you think Rangers fans? Get in touch on Twitter @BBCSportScot.
18:47 1 Feb
Wright heading for Ibrox
Aberdeen and Rangers have agreed a fee which will see Scott Wright move to Ibrox now. The player had signed a pre-contract to join Steven Gerrard's side in the summer. But he will move south in this window after the Dons accepted an offer understood to be around £175,000.
All gone a bit quiet, after a wee flurry of news. St Mirren chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick now on Sportsound. His club doing brilliantly. Might he upgrade the top-six finish prediction????
In the new age, deals are announced at the last minute as clubs prepare the scintillating social content and 'exclusive' first interview with their new man. Won't someone think of the journalists? Nope? Fair enough. https://twitter.com/BenjyPalmestatus/1356306778628255746
Bournemouth's Jack Simpson has arrived in Glasgow, as he looks to agree a switch to Rangers tonight, having already agreed a pre-contract to join in the summer. Excited, Rangers fans?
18:04 1 Feb
Nisbet staying at Hibs
Kevin Nisbet will NOT be making the move from Hibernian to Birmingham City in this transfer window. The Easter Road club have turned down all approaches by the English Championship club for the player they signed last summer from Dunfermline for £300,000.
As if this season wasn't going bad enough for Celtic, and you're somewhat bizarrely beaten to a signing by the Premier League champions, who are basically filling their injury-hit defence in the short-term. https://twitter.com/RonnieEsplin/status/1356236345929306114
Aberdeen fans, if you finish tonight with Florian Kamberi and Fraser Hornby as your striking options, would you be happy? With Sam Cosgrove going out, are those two adequate replacements? Tweet us your thoughts @BBCSportScot. Or, you know, vote with your thumbs. . .
17:36 1 Feb
Some interesting quotes from Celtic boss Neil Lennon, who seems clear that he's not leaving the club anytime soon. "Why would it be my intention to go?" Lennon said, when asked if he had considered following chief executive Peter Lawwell out of the club at the end of the season. "Peter's decision has got nothing to do with my position at all, or my coaches or any of the players. So I don't understand the context of the question at all. "
17:30 1 Feb
Comings and goings at Fir Park?
Motherwell have already announced Robbie Crawford and Charles Dunne are hanging about at Fir Park for longer, but will there be more coming in or going out? It could be a late one tonight with signings expected in, but looks like captain Declan Gallagher, who was linked with a move away last month, may well be staying. Keep your eyes on our live page for more updates.
17:25 1 Feb
Interestingly, Celtic boss Neil Lennon also said earlier that Olivier Ntcham is in talks about a move away from the club. That one's been in the pipeline for a while. Plenty talent, but not really shown it consistently enough for Celtic. Or should the club have got more out of him?
17:19 1 Feb
Celtic await Kenny arrival
Celtic manager Neil Lennon says a loan deal for Everton right-back Jonjoe Kenny should "signed and sealed" at some point. The Celtic boss wants the 23-year-old defender to replace Jeremie Frimpong, who last week joined Bayer Leverkusen.
17:15 1 Feb
Busy night at Pittodrie...
Reports circling that Aberdeen have paid £150,000 to get Ross McCrorie's move made permanent now (was meant to be £350,000 in the summer), with Scott Wright heading to Ibrox immediately rather than in the summer. https://twitter.com/ScottBurns75/status/1356281147421040650
Robert Grieve, the Scottish Sun's chief football writer, reports that Hibs' striker Kevin Nisbet wants out, after Birmingham City had a bid knocked back. Earlier today, head coach Jack Ross said both Nisbet and Ryan Porteous, also the subject of interest, trained this morning and are in his plans for tomorrow night's game against St Mirren. It could be a tense wait for Hibs fans tonight. . . https://twitter.com/robert_grieve/status/1356248104438288386
16:42 1 Feb
Ibrox activity
Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall said in a news conference earlier that Jack Simpson to Rangers is "more than likely going to happen" today, bringing forward his move having signed a pre-contract deal to switch to Ibrox in the summer. His Cherries team-mate Nnamdi Ofoborh is also expected to sign a pre-contract, having agreed to move to Wycombe on loan for the rest of this season.
16:34 1 Feb
Saints still eyeing Gilmour deal
St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson is hopeful of adding at least one new player to his squad - but is also surprised that his phone hasn't been ringing about midfielder Ali McCann. Davidson reckons the 21-year-old Northern Ireland international has been his best performer this season and McCann was in the spotlight again with a fine winner in Saints' 3-2 win away to Kilmarnock. "I think I'm just going to switch my phone off tonight," the manager joked. However, Davidson is still hopeful of completing the signing of former Arsenal midfielder Charlie Gilmour, the 21-year-old who has impressed on trial after being released by Norwich City.
Scott Burns of the Daily Record is reporting that former Hibernian and Rangers striker Florian Kamberi is close to joining Aberdeen on loan from Swiss side St Gallen. What do you make of that, Aberdeen fans? https://twitter.com/ScottBurns75/status/1356274685412061186
16:18 1 Feb
Aberdeen 'admire' target Hornby
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes is "very busy" trying to get in a striker to replace Sam Cosgrove, according to assistant Tony Docherty. The Dons are hoping to sign Scotland Under-21 top goalscorer Fraser Hornby on loan from Stade de Reims. "He is certainly a player we really admire and we think is a good young player and would be a good addition," Docherty said. "You are never there until you are there. We are endeavouring to do all we can as club to get things over the line. " On Rangers' immediate pursuit of their pre-contract signing, Scott Wright, Docherty said: "I can't comment on that, other people are working on that as we speak, purely speculation at the moment. "
I've settled in with a coffee and massive slab of cake from the canteen, all set for a long night of transfer activity (or not?). Will Kevin Nisbet leave Hibs? Can Aberdeen replace Sam Cosgrove? We'll have every in and out of the night, and plenty of errr 'banter' in between. Stick with us.
Name -[REDACTED]. -{}- Namesake -Agent Umbra. -{}- Gender -Male. -{}- Race -Human. -{}- Age -35 -{}- Class -Caster -{}- Appearance - Height - 6 feet (2 meters.). Weight - 250 pounds (113 kilos.). Nationality - [REDACTED]. Profession - Class 7 Agent for OMICAE. Personality - When doing his job, is extremely serious. When not, extremely not serious. Looks - Obviously a tall Caucasian man with a shaved, stiff face with minor lines, a jawline sharp enough to peel an apple, short, brown hair, and an always angry appearance. He always, ALWAYS wears a black fancy suit, no matter the occasion. He has a very muscular build, well built and strong-looking. His hands are also stiff and hard, obviously belonging to someone who has beaten up a LOT of people. He also wears cool agent sunglasses most of the time. Tl:dr Chad+The Terminator. -{}- Base stats - Intelligence - EXTREME. Defense - Pretty high. Health - Really high. Stamina - Not much. Stealth - High, despite being a giant. Dexterity - N o. Charisma - Intimidating, very good at interrogations. Movement speed - Slow. Attack - Very high. Mana -N o. -{}- Racial abilities - Muscoskeletal enchantment - Umbra has an enchanted skeleton and muscles, giving him much more power than any human can muster up. -{}- Active Starting Abilities - Leech - Umbra can pass through organic matter with his hands, sucking out blood and cell tissue with it. Upon contact with organic matter, his hand will pass through it like a ghost and start draining the blood of the target with it, slowly draining health and healing himself. This ability will eventually kill the target either with blood loss or tissue damage. This ability does not let Umbra pass through bones, having his hand blocked by it. It only works when Umbra touches the target with his hands. While this attack is being performed, his fists can not damage anything by ripping out hearts or vital organs, but they still can grab bones. (4 slots.). -{}- Passive Starting Abilities - Organic barrier - Resistance to poison, electricity, bleeding, diseases, heat, cold and drowning. (3 slots.). -{}- Learnt abilities - None... -{}- Weaknesses - Potion resistance - Can not absorb effects from potions and such, as his body considers them outside sources. This includes healing potions, painkillers and such.(-2 slots.). Terrible aim - Umbra's aim is absolutely atrocious, most ranged weapons he uses can't be used properly by him. (-1 slot.) -{}- Ability slots - 4/14 -{}- Inventory - Flashbang belt - A small belt holding 2 flashbang grenades that work just as expected. The belt itself is anomalous, recharging the flashbangs after an encounter. Special suit - The suit he always wears provides him with comfort and stretches perfectly over his body, not letting it be apart by his sicc moves. Multifunctional sunglasses - His sunglasses are able to scan the target, knowing some basic information, snapping a picture and even being an earpiece, allowing direct communication to OMICAE. Infinite briefcase - An anomalous briefcase that provides Umbra with an infinite number of sandwiches, cartons of orange juice, water bottles, band aids, glue, staple gun and staples, notes, pencils, pens, erasers, coffee packets, tea packets, spoons, forks, plates, plastic bags, plastic cups, plastic plates and chocolate bars. -{}- Balance - 50K. -{}- Lore - Umbra used to be a hitman with a kill count so high, that he even attracted the attention of OMICAE, an organization that keeps dangerous anomalies away from humanity. He was invited to join the organization, and he did, but after that, his memory was completely wiped, and he got his new name - Agent Umbra. He is now working to keep watch on Site-69-2, also known by it's visitors as The Oak Shack with his work partner, Agent Dusk.
A Perspective on Understanding Exdeath as a Frequent Exdeath player in GL
Hello folks. Today I want to give a little bit of perspective about Exdeath and his LD as someone who ran him almost exclusively up until the Keiss CHAOS more than 2 months later. The last time I did a discussion about understanding a misunderstood character was when I made this discussion about Porom: https://www.reddit.com/DissidiaFFOO/comments/fxadsc/dispelling_fomo_panic_porom_edition/ I feel like I went too far into the weeds when explaining Porom which didn’t result in people getting a better understanding of Porom, so I want to make this Exdeath discussion much more general and much more to the point. The most important thing to point out about Exdeath is that he is NOT a gravity character most of the time. Before his LD came out the only gravity move was coming off of his 1 turn debuff from his EX skill. If you’re waiting a SYP video saying that all of his skills are gravity then stop watching that video now because it shows a massive misunderstanding on what Exdeath’s core mechanic does. At his core, Exdeath’s skills mirror what any other damager would do. The major difference is that instead of damaging with STOLEN BRV (YELLOW NUMBERS), he attacks with GAINED BRV (GREEN NUMBERS). This is not the same as a gravity attack. A gravity attack was when Ultimecia used her S2 and instantly dropped 40% of the current brv from the target before continuing to keep shaving, which was one of the reasons Ultimecia lasted so long on her debut. A gravity attack is when Yuffie uses S1 and immediately kills 50% of an enemy’s brv count before continuing to get more brv hits. Exdeath doesn’t do that kind of thing. How does this work in practice? Well take his HP attack compared a damager with any HP attack with stolen brv. Say someone like Cloud uses an HP attack that does 3 hits each doing 9999 damage. You’re doing 30K damage of stolen brv. This is simple, we know how this works. Now say that Exdeath does his HP attack. You’ll see a green number above his head and that will be how much he “shaves” down brv from the target. If the green number you see is 30K, then it’s equivalent of damage potential of Cloud’s HP attack damage, it’s just using green numbers instead of yellow numbers. It’s unusual to see, but it works exactly the same. The only difference is that you can’t break the target with gained brv attacks, but that is not remotely a major weakness of the kit. Attacking with gained brv has its perks. This means that, for now (until gained brv reduction auras starts happening like in JP), brv reduction means absolutely NOTHING to Exdeath. Brv reduction aura from the Alphinaud lizards? He does full damage. Brv shields from Caius event? He cuts them up and pierces the enemy’s brave number to kill that too. Ciaran LC bears making it so you do 1 brv damage per hit? Nope, Exdeath kills those auras because he doesn’t function on stolen brv. So let’s look at his skills. They’re fairly simple. Some of his kit and debuffs have some nuance but I’ll stick the parts that really matter when you hit the button. S1 is Blackhole. This is a simple single-target attack with 50% splash. It also refreshes his sap debuff which realistically should never be dropping. S2 is Almagest. This is a simple split damage attack. It also confers the Curse debuff which you want to have running 100% of the time in the mission. EX is Grand Cross. It does not charge quickly at ALL. It basically is a 100% AOE attack that batteries the rest of the party and also refreshes his sap debuff. It also gives a 1 turn debuff that has a complicated effect, but basically it makes the party take 0 damage while the debuff is up, and then when the debuff falls the enemy’s brv drops to 0. The LD does a few things massively important for Exdeath. The biggest thing is that he receives a free skill usage after an LD use, similar to what we’ve seen for Garland and Cloud. This is incredibly valuable because it’s easy for Exdeath to run out of skills quickly and fall HARD around the 60-65 turn count. This is because the S2 debuff NEEDS to be running all the time to make him worth bringing, and since the EX charges really slow, most of the time you’re playing Exdeath you’re either using one of his 10 Blackhole charges or his HP attack. 8 extra skill charges drastically improves Exdeath’s longevity. The LD also reduces enemy atk by 50%. With his character boards, that’s 70% atk down with Curse and 80% if you get his luf armor. That’s a big atk down number that’s framed so you can drop it even more with your roster. He’ll also bring 30% def down, or 50% with his luf armor. Finally the LD gives a second HP poison which I would say weirdly is the least important addition to the kit compared to the other changes. One major issue I take to the LD is that the debuff might not have full uptime. It has a maximum of 24 enemy turns. Since I don’t play JP I don’t have a full grasp of how that could be an issue, but I do know that running Exdeath before his LD, managing his S2 debuff uptime was a big hassle and that had a potential to run 40 enemy turns. This duration will not improve on his JP rework, and I think that’s because of the expectation that you get his Burst to get an extra usage of his LD. Here are the things that Exdeath needs to excel in a team: In order, Exdeath needs these three desperately to function well:
Gained Brv Overflow Aura
2- Atk auras
Consistent battery
Yes, I am suggesting that Exdeath wants gained overflow auras over atk auras, but not by much. When he debuted, one of the reasons he didn’t immediately impress is that he capped his max brv far earlier than his potential damage on his skills could output. If you’ve ever seen a video of Exdeath using Almagest, you’ve seen him battery like 150K gained brv before attacking. But all of that gained brv doesn’t help you if you cap your max brv early. This is why I ran Porom and Selphie with Exdeath a lot during this era. Both of them had gained brv overflow auras and because of the overflow auras, Exdeath was outputting a lot of damage because he wasn’t capped by his max brv stat early since they had gained brv overflow auras. Aerith also got her realization a few weeks later making her a good candidate to run with Exdeath too. Brv overflow is something I think we take for granted these days now that we’re well into almost everyone having their character boards now where everyone has it now. Around this time, Hope EX and realization came out, and Ramza/Lenna realizations came out. These characters were much more popular and gave stolen brv overflow aura but not gained brv overflow, making Exdeath a less viable candidate to run. Why Exdeath didn’t always impress after his debut: The short answer is that he debuted in a time when enemies were cleansing VERY often which was rough for managing Exdeath’s Curse ticks. When the devs stopped doing this, they implemented character boards that left Exdeath behind. And I know you can show me the video with Exdeath appearing in Beatrix’s Luf where he was subbed out for Cloud and the stage was only completed by 1 more turn on the orb. Or you can show me the video where Exdeath was on Ciaran’s LC where the stage wasn’t completed. I get it, but as far as I’m concerned, Exdeath died as a viable damager around Keiss’ event. Longer answer is between the 12 stages from Exdeath’s event to Keiss’ event, he was only exceptionally good at 4 of them, with the rest of them being okay but difficult to manage (except Jecht/Dragon raid and Arciela event where I did NOT use Exdeath). I would point out that my perspective is lined with using Exdeath with Selphie and Porom for all of these stages because I wanted that team to work on as many stages as possible. For example, Arciela event might’ve been fine with Arciela, but I chose not to use Exdeath with Arciela. -Exdeath event he was exceptional -Lightning/Hope/Shadow heretic had cleansing on 3 waves of enemies cleansing at 80% and 50% health. -Porom LC had enemies cleansing at 80% and 50% health. -Caius event was he was great in since he disrespected the brv shield. -Diabolos Ultimate was good for him -Cinque LC was a nightmare because the stage clearly wanted a tank and giving the enemy turns for HP poison was very dangerous since the Wave 2 boss could OHKO you easily. -Jack event had conditional boss cleanses. -Jecht/Dragon raid had the dragon doing massive heals on a loop, so you wanted as few turns on the dragon as possible, so Exdeath poison wasn’t a good choice for this stage. -Prompto LC first wave auto-countered magic attacks (Exdeath is listed as a magic attacker) with a 50% max brv debuff -Arciela event was terrible for Exdeath due to framed buff kills. CHARACTER BOARDS WERE ALSO INTRODUCED HERE -Cyan/Fujin dungeon had birds taking up 6 framed buff slots if you didn’t get Exdeath’s debuffs in first. -Alphinaud’s LC was incredibly good for Exdeath since the brv reduction aura didn’t affect him. Why Exdeath probably won’t impress on his LD release: Unlike when I was doing my best to try and sell Porom, I am not trying to sell Exdeath. I will mention that his LD and character boards help his kit a LOT but the problem is A) the characters that have released around him don’t help his key needs and B) the gained brv reduction auras that enemies will get starting on Onion Knight burst release. When Exdeath’s LC releases, there will be only ONE character in the game with an LD weapon and gained brv overflow aura, and that character is Amidatelion. These characters do not function well because they hog needed debuff slots. This means Exdeath is releasing without the most important support for him: Gained brv overflow aura. That said, outside of whatever happens on Anniversary, the next Burst character is Ramza. Ramza has a good gained brv overflow on his LD, will retain his very high atk aura, and will battery Exdeath. I have never seen a video showing of how well Exdeath works with Ramza outside synergy, but knowing what Exdeath needs, I expect Exdeath to work very well with Ramza. The next LD with a gained brv overflow aura I believe would be Penelo, which would be coming a full month after Exdeath’s LC. Exdeath’s LC releases a very odd time. I don’t think it’s a weird thing to say this, but the current global era is all about boosting crit damage and boosting weakness damage, of which Exdeath cannot take advantage of. Bringing Exdeath to a team means that team has to use a character that does not benefit from: -Brv dmg up boosts and crit damage boosts, including the ones from many burst auras -Enchant/Imperil or Weakness damage -Defense down stacking If you think about the characters that have been released over the past couple months, you should notice that Exdeath comes off as an outlier to all of the other characters that the game is trying to push on us right now. When we get more characters with LDs that boost the things Exdeath wants, he’ll do better, but keep in mind that by the time “he gets better” he’ll be out of synergy and that’s when many players will not choose him in their roster. I also want to point out that we’re definitely in an environment where damagers are damagers now. Back when Exdeath released, you could bring Porom, Selphie, and Aerith to the Caius event and win by hitting max damage every turn. But we’re well into an era where you must bring a character who is bringing the turn count down by doing A) consecutive damage B) multiple HP dumps per turns C) free turn damage D) good AOE, etc. Hitting maximum damage per turn isn’t quite enough to hit turn count, and until I get experience out of Exdeath on his LD before his JP rework, I don’t really know if he can support the damage needed to comfortably hit the turn count. I would also point out the obvious: Like any other character who wants enemies to get their turns, depending on the Lufenia orb, that can result in a major problem. It’s no surprise that Exdeath’s LC Luf and the Burst luf that JP is running right now are trivialized as long as Exdeath is there. So do you recommend Exdeath on his LD release? I am not a JP player, but I do keep attention on a handful of characters that get reworks on JP. I got enough data to be confident in my answer for Porom, but I don’t have enough to give a really good recommendation for Exdeath. His major problem is that the supports that actually matter for him aren’t out yet until Ramza LD is available, and that is a BIG problem in perception because if Exdeath wasn’t exceptional to JP players on his LD release you definitely don’t see them suddenly bring Exdeath in later. His damage is still going to be good, especially with a support with gained overflow aura, but I don’t have a good bead on exactly how long. Exdeath will still bring single dump damage (along with his poisons) until current JP where he gets much better treatment. There will be a point where single dump damage will mean he cannot function as your major damager, so it’s going to be tough to bring him often unless you are very cognizant of what party members he needs to excel. That said, he is still, in my opinion, the best shield killer in the game, and there are some upcoming stages where that will matter. If you still haven’t beaten Ciaran’s LC, Exdeath with his LD will trash that stage. As long as you understand what he is (NOT A GRAVITY CHARACTER!) then he’s not the worst pick. But even as someone who’s written all of this, I would relent and say that he’s a luxury pick much more than a mandatory pick in the era we’re in. But where he excels, he excels very, very well.
The first thing to say is that this virus cannot be 'beaten', or 'defeated.' We are probably stuck with it, and it's future mutations, for the foreseeable decades just as we have to deal with other less deadly viruses affecting the respiratory tract. Indeed in a normal year around 10,000 people in the U.K. die of influenza. ‘COVID-19 cannot be beaten one country at a time’ – UN chief The UN SG said in memory of the two million souls who have died because of Covid-19, the world must act with far greater solidarity. COVID-19 cannot be beaten one country at a time. We need manufacturers to step up their commitment to work with the COVAX facility and countries around the world to ensure enough supply and fair distribution. We need countries to commit now to sharing excess doses of vaccines. The Village Inn: cannot be beaten - See 614 traveler reviews, 104 candid photos, and great deals for The Village Inn at Tripadvisor. COVID-19 cannot be beaten one country at a time – UN Chief. IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency. Tehran, Jan 17, IRNA -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his statement on the The impossible war: Isis 'cannot be beaten' as long as there is civil war in Syria. US air strikes against Isis are unlikely to be as effective as Obama hopes. This is an example of a page. Unlike posts, which are displayed on your blog’s front page in the order they’re published, pages are better suited for more timeless content that you want to be easily accessible, like your About or Contact information. Click the Edit link to make changes to this page or add… Slots can be beaten Professional slot player shares how he does it. Search. Main menu. Home; About; Category Archives: Uncategorized Hello world! Posted on October 15, 2012 by slotsking. 1. Welcome to WordPress.com! This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post. Denny's: Cannot be beaten! - See 61 traveler reviews, 6 candid photos, and great deals for Fargo, ND, at Tripadvisor. “COVID-19 cannot be beaten one country at a time,” he added. Science offers hope, but do not neglect the simple. The UN chief called on all countries to share excess doses of vaccine so that health workers around the world can be inoculated as a matter of urgency to prevent the collapse of health systems,
I never received extra slots for characters other than that knight. ... I recently raised my sensitivity dramatically from 8% to 12% and have finally beaten my old record on the new sensitivity. Creators can also choose to age restrict their own content at upload if they think it’s not suitable for younger audiences. Resources . Learn more about age-restricted content . or you can go to facebook: https ... How I make money playing slot machines ~ DON'T GO HOME BROKE from the casino ~ how to win on slots - Duration: 16:56 ... Roulette Can Be Beaten House Edge ... The brand new slot game, only available at Jackpot Party® Three or more scattered POT OF GOLD symbols trigger the FREE GAMES FEATURE Once the free games are ... Brian Christopher Slots 35,021 views. New; 22:21. Options Trading Basics EXPLAINED ... Roulette Can Be Beaten House Edge Debunked! - Duration: 15:06. RouletteMan Recommended for you. Provided to YouTube by Top Rank Entertainment - Patrice Nashville Memories Session Musicians: Guitar: Fred Newell, Bobby Dyson, Dave Kirby, Dale Sellers. Drums: Jerry Carrigan. Piano: Hargus ... Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Casino "You can either have the money and the hammer or you can walk ... SPECTATOR INVOLVED, STUDS UP FROM BEHIND, NORVAL CROATIA BEATEN AT HOME!!! ... Brian Christopher Slots Recommended ... Ted apparently having an amazing time playing a slot machine. So much that he can't seem to stop clapping. :-) An original way to beat Emerald Weapon : all 3 characters turn into fogs during all the battle (that's mean you can't use limit), and to make that harder, I also don't use any Materia !
