Primate Murder
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spoiler:
The grand finale! I loved that look into the head of a Scythe Mantle necromancer. It's both sad and ironic the way he's trapped by the bargain made years ago, without truly understanding, and the way he rejected any help, dismissed even the possibility of redemption, was masterfully done. On the rest, I have to admit I'm actually a little disappointed. We came in, defeated a bunch of nameless, faceless mooks, and... that's it? Kaley retreats back to the Sanctum, and we leave the Orcus Archive in the hands of another group of nameless, faceless mooks? What happens to the remaining members of the Mantles? What about necromancers who disagree with the new order of things? What's stopping the Shadowscythe from starting a new Mantle? We've just seen how easily they entrap the young and the ignorant! It all felt very... unsatisfying. Which may be the tone Cray was going for, and in that case feel free to ignore me, but it felt like we didn't actually resolve anything. Unless we create some kind of a framework, both for new necromancers and for the old, things are just going to go back to the way they were. A bunch of loose cannons messing with stuff they do not understand and making things worse for everybody around them. The foreshadowing about the new big bad also seemed to come out of nowhere. There were no hints about it anywhere in the questline, and while I understand that it's meant to make the bad guy seem more impressive, it just feels contrived. Sorry if it feels like I'm complaining, and I generally like Cray's writing, but I really think this could have been so much... more. Now, on to other topics! Boss monsters: spoiler:
The Dragonbone Phylactery seems like an interesting idea that was not very well implemented. Increasing damage and accuracy means that you need to either kill it very quickly or Fear it - and +30 Boss Boost makes fear infliction rather difficult. Just a little weird that the necromancer class boss requires heavy nuking. P.S. A 'battery' monster having a USB effect made me smile. The Ritualist. A simpler boss, but one that relies heavily on healing. I didn't have Lust or any Disease items in my inventory when doing the quest, but I appreciate the staff making them more relevant. New skills: Pet summoning is amazing, no ifs or buts about it. Cray, Cray, Hooray! Mana Quickening provides a more immediate source of mp, always a good thing for mages. Agressive Anima Ward seems like a very interesting idea, though weirdly counterintuitive for a class specializing in status effects. Deathless Abomination inflicts a lengthy Fragile status, which is pretty neat. Summon Legion provides another nuke. Not strictly necessary, but looks cool. Rend Mana (from Grasp Essence) seems like another great addition for beast-focused builds, consuming your turn for an omni-elemental 3-turn EleShield. Also, Unravel Blood works wonders with double Undead Beast. Bleed them up, then finish off with a skill that restores your entire mp bar. Any chance we could get a misc or (non-melee) weapon with Bleed potence?
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