Visual Novels

Was debating which of these two games I should install on my PSP: Steins;Gate or Zero Escape. Both of these visual novels I really enjoyed and only yesterday I finally unlocked all the endings in Steins;Gate. But I finally went with Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward and Zero Dilemma because the save mechanism allows players to jump in and out of the story to revisit/reply different points/ fragments of it; a bit like how consciousness can time travel in these stories! So its "replayability value" is a lot higher. 

With Steins;Gate, though, it is quite hard to do that given it's save system doesn't facilitate that. Also, I can watch the excellent anime on YouTube! Zero Escape is, actually, a bit like Tactics Ogre in that you can jump around after having completed your initial playthrough. So now I have Zero Escape on my PSP and ... the Danganronpa trilogy on the PS Vita. It turns out I have lost the save for Trigger Happy Havoc so one day I will play that again. Excellent game and, arguably the best of the trilogy. 

ELDEN RING (PART 9)

Three big bosses -- Malenia, Fire Giant, Astel -- and many runes later, I'm now at level 150, which is where I wanna stop and have pretty much reached the point of no return in the game. However, the question is: WHO should commit the cardinal sin and burn the Erdtree?? There are two choices: either ask Melina (who's been the Tarnish's guide since the beginning of the game) to do the deed or do it myself ...

To make that decision I'd like to create my own (original) narrative for my game, yet trying to stick to the lore of Elden Ring as well. So, first of all, WHO my character should be? 

Our Tarnished began his journey as a Prophet. According to the game, this class' description is:

"A seer ostracised for inauspicious prophecies. Well versed in healing incantations..."

I guess I choice this class because I didn't want to be a mage outright (which sounds a bit boring) but at the same time can still yield some magic. So being a healer/cleric sounds like something that I'd choose in other RPG games (also, I don't think I can handle melee since I don't even know how to parry LOL). And wielding a bow is not really my thing either. 

So, despite its weird looks -- the blindfold and the shackles -- I went with the Prophet who, actually, can see the (terrible) future that will befall on the Lands Between. At this point, it is worth delving into the lore of 1) what exactly is this future as seen via Brother Corhyn and Goldmask quest in the game and 2) the fate of Hyetta who is also blindfolded (but probably for a whole different reason).  

The answers may not be straightforward as, for one, there are many theories behind who Goldmask is. The scholar is believed to be a proponent of the Golden Order, created by the first Elden Lord. But having trudge through countless reddit threads lol it appears Goldmask, and eventually Brother Corhyn, realised the Golden Order is just as perfect as they'd thought -- in fact, it is another form of dictatorship -- which left both of them disillusioned ... perhaps this is what the Prophet class foresees? 

The other side of the same coin (as it were) is that if the Golden Order is not the answer for the Lands Between (and that is why I decided to change allegiance half way through the game so our Tarnished is not a follower of the Golden Order... I scaled back his INT back to 7 and significantly boosted his FTH stats) then what is the future for this world in the prophecy?

Enter the Frenzied Flame God, which turns everyone crazy. Now, this is one scary prophecy that our Tarnished can see, channelled via Hyetta. 

Like Vyke, a fellow Tarnished who wanted to save his maiden by burning the Erdtree himself, our Tarnished also doesn't want to sacrifice his "guide" Melina (but WHO is Melina?) And also like Vyke, the Prophet class wield a spear. And him realising the horror and injustice done to the entire Nomad race, our Tarnished may also want to seek revenge for them and opt for a World of Madness. 

But, of course, our Tarnished's journey was never gonnabe plain sailing. As he is always well versed in Fire and Dragon incantations, which means there is something else that might be in the works, which makes him a puzzle in itself. Is he in any way connected to the Fire Monks (since he wears their armour set and learnt their incantations) or the Fire Giants (he also uses their incantations), and how is he connected with the Dragon Cult?     

One thing for sure though, he is NOT a believer of Ranni/ Moon Magic. Despite acquiring the Sword of  Night and Flame quite earlier on in the game, a legendary weapon that could go with both the Ranni and Age of Stars or Golden Order lores, our Tarnished abandoned that after acquiring the Blasphemous Blade from defeating Rykard (which also means he left the Volcano Manor sect after, well, betraying them ... for some very good armour sets!)

So what are these connections? To be continued ... 

ELDEN RING (Part 8)

This game is kinda addictive and before I knew it, I have already hit the soft cap for levelling, at 125.

Unlocked all the seven spell/incantation slots!

The question now is what kinda thematic build should I go for? I'm a tad tired of the Fire Monk look (even though the armour set is solid) so have been contemplating the Golden Order build (for the Golden Order ending, perhaps)... But there are very few (if any) armour sets that go with this build. The Black Knife (ninja) set looks very good but also very squishy -- even though I've found the Unseen spell that works with this build. And with the Frenzied Burst spell I can snipe from afar. 

Pausing on that thought, maybe I should look for the incantation boosting Flock's Canvas Talisman first ... 

ELDEN RING (Part 7)

Let's talk out buffs in this game, which can be quite confusing 😅😅

The most fundamental "buff" is when players level up and invest in the stats they need. So for me -- who is rocking the Sword of Night and Flame -- the min stats required to wield that weapon is 12 STR/ 12 DEX/ 24 INT / 24 FTH.

In order to make a "faith build@ stronger, I have to continue to invest runes into the FTH stats (as well as VIG, MIND and INT). 

From there, I need to then level up the weapon itself to +10 (currently my SoNaF is +9 after acquiring the +9 Somber Smithing Stone).

Then -- I think -- in order to boost the damage output of the sword further, esp in its two inherent weapon skills -- Comet Azur (INT) and a fire attack (FTH) -- I need to equip an appropriate sacred seal, and the best one is Golden Order Seal, which scales with both Intelligence & Faith. Which also means I will need to level THAT up to +10 (currently it is +5). 

After that, then I can further buff damage output by a couple of incantations/ ashes of war  -- Flame Grant Me Strength and Golden Vow -- AND equip, say, the Fire Scorpion Charm (right now I have the Faithful's Canvas Talisman, which slightly increases damages of all incantation).

How do all that translate into real damages statistically? That I will need to test out. 

To be continued ...

ELDEN RING (Part 6)

Have made some good progress in the game. Quite surprisingly, I managed to beat that horrible blob Godskin Noble last night after many attempts (probably as many as Rennala) ... each of these boss fights are like solving a puzzle. At first they look completely impossible, then you start to really think the resources you have and the answer can be found there -- somewhere. After all, my character's stats and build are not bad and it Should work (!!!)

With Rennala, it became quite apparent the only way to defeat her (what a troll!) was to keep whacking her with a sword since she was immune to spells/ incantations. She wouldn't give players enough time to spam those. Thankfully, those Demi-Humans helped too. 

With Godskin Noble, it was more tricky and it took me longer to work out the solution. He was super aggressive -- always homing in onto me from the word go even though I already have those Demi-Humans in berserk /night mode -- he kinda ignored them 😡😡and I tried different summons and none of them seem to survive long enough to see me through his second phase. 

I even tried those sleep pots (I had enough materials to craft 7 ... and I had to look for the recipe) and that recommended strategy didn't work either. I think cos my +7 sword wasn't strong enough). But through trial and error -- and tbh I think this is what Elden Ring is all about, trial and error -- I realised something: Godskin Noble's health bar would continue to deplete long after I hit him with rotten breath right from the start of the fight.

So, here is the solution: Summon (berserk) Demi-Humans to block his first attack, then hit him with a LONG bout of rotten breath behind the spirits (sometimes he is super aggressive and a full administration is not possible). Then when the Demi-Humans are still alive (and, hopefully, getting the blob's attention), spam comet azur (this is why I'm keeping the Sword of Night & Flame!) and should take us to his second phase. Now, just have enough health potion to keep self alive and run around the room -- yup, just keep going around in circles (luckily the serpent church is very big) -- and since the blob is slow, you can avoid many of his mid-range attacks -- and WATCH HIS HP BAR GOES DOWN 😈😈 when he has little health left then just hit him with one more comet azur.

VICTORY !!!

After the win, I was able to access the elusive Somber Smithing Stone 7 and it was time to upgrade my SoNaF to +10 💥💥 (the 8 and 9 stones are super easy to obtain in comparison). In the meantime, I also stumbled across a knight that drops the Golden Vow ashes of war (which I put on the Fire Monk Firemace) and together with the Flame, Grant Me Strength incantation (both very good buffs) I am now able to hit A LOT harder !!!

I have thought about respecc-ing but I still like my FTH/INT build ... simply cos my character becomes very versatile and can deal with many different situations -- the frenzied burst and slinging rocks are still great for sniping and you  need to be a hybrid build to use those. But it does mean it take a lot longer to become strong cos I am really spreading the skill points thin.

Right now, I have at least 40 VIG, which is great but I still need 60 FTH, maybe 30 INT and at least 30 MIND and 30 END to be solid (so I am looking at level 190 to be solid 😲😲 (and I am only level 86 now) ... so let's see if I will last THAT long LOL.. (but I already been on the game for a lot longer than I'd expected ...) 

Next, Volcano Manor, which seems to offer some interesting quests ...   

ELDEN RING (Part 5)

 Fire Prophet Build ...

Well, the chest piece of the Fire Monk armour set finally dropped 😍😍 but it took such a long time, and from a fire monk on the road (not in the camp) 😅😅 I'd swapped out the hood cos Roderika's red hood (found in Stormveil Castle) actually gives +1 to vigor, which is a great health boost; and it doesn't look out of place with the rest of the set. 

Have also found the amazing Frenzied Burst incantation, which has AMAZING range -- maybe even better than Rock Sling but costs more FP (24) apparently it can inflict madness status but I don't think that works with in-game enemies (only on fellow tarnished/ invaders). Was wondering if I should go through the trouble to get the Flame, Grant Me Strength spell (in Caelid, yikes) to boost fire damage but it eats up another 28 FP and too wasteful for casual enemies, so maybe not. The Scorpion Charm talisman that boosts fire attacks also quite troublesome to get (in Volcano Manor) and it also reduces defence against physical damages, so will also give it a miss (especially I already have the Radagon's Soreseal on, which also increases damage taken ... but at least the boost in vigor/strength helps compensate that). May consider the Flame-Shrouding Cracked Tear though since it is a Erdtree Avator drop and that is not too hard to get. But it is just a one-use potion so ... maybe the FGMS spell might be better? 

Oh, I had another Staff of the Guilty drop but a bleed build is not viable cos it requires high Arcane stat, and I am not about to grind for that now. 

So, since last blog entry, I am tweaking the four spell/incantation "memory slots": will keep Rock Sling cos it still does decent damages and has range; Frenzied Burst also has superb range and can snipe annoying enemies (I'm looking at you, nasty prawn miners!); Heal, which actually can heal self and the summon; and one of the following: Flame of Frenzy, AoE spell for crowd control (but inflicts Madness status on self); Flame, Cleanse Me; Rotten Breath; Darkness/Rejection; Catch Flame/ Flame Sling. 

Time to upgrade the Sword of Night and Flame to +6 !     

ELDEN RING (Part 4)

The Prophet Build...

Currently farming the Fire Monk Armor set off a ... fire monk! It's a good thing the farming locations and conditions are forgiving cos the chest piece is just NOT dropping 😡😡 (I have the rest of the set ... and even the rare drop Staff of the Guilty!) 

I quite like the fire-theme cos the Prophet class comes with fire incantations from the word go and, of course, it goes very well with the Sword of Night and Flame 🔥🔥🔥 But have also started to think about a semi-bleed build too (more of which later). 

Research (Reddit!) suggests that the best fire spells are Catch Flame -- which surprisingly I haven't been using -- and Flame of Frenzy are very strong. Just like any other spells, they are a bit situational but will try to test them out in Stormveil Castle, which is quite a good training ground. I think I will spend some time there before venturing into the Academy of Raya Lucaria, which looks like a giant maze. 

So, am gonna tweak the left hand setup a bit. I think the Rock Sling spell is great for farming enemies (it has superb range!) but too hard to use in battle cos of its very slow casting time. Will switch the Meteorite Staff out for now and use the Staff of the Guilty instead ... let's see if the AOE Briars of Sin blood spell works for killing mobs (just for experimenting). In the longer run I may drop spells altogether and just rely on the "night" spell on the right hand sword. 

The other three "memory slots" will go to incantations and I will probably switch between Heal, Rejection, Darkness (for buffing) and Catch Flame, Flame of Frenzy, Flame Sling and  Rotten Breath (for damages). 

Meanwhile, since I now have quite a few bleed inducing weapons -- Bloodhound's Fang and Hookclaws -- as well as a blood spell, I may start thinking of doing a bleed build ... just for experimenting since my DEX stat is pretty low ...