inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Nov 19, 2022 13:33:32 GMT
Isn't there a Mage in DA that discovered their abilities late? In a sort of realistic world, there is no arcane user that was already trained as a warrior even until the age of 15 let's say, that later discovered magic ability? Honestly, it's so wild that there is somehow only one way to be a frontline mage, that goes all the way back to ancient elves. What about the apostates who need to hide their magic? Especially second generation ones, who would have the opportunity to train with weapons outside of circle. Running around with a staff totally isn't going to get you dragged to a circle tower, I promise! Or yeah, someone who's magic manifested late. Dragon Age has so much grand, mystical world building around the Maker, Fade, elven Pantheons, but then the things common people would encounter are practically forgotten about, and it's a shame. P.S. Vall, that idea about mage warriors or Dark Knight tomb guards was actually awesome. But i'm not sure either, that they will pursue this path in the classes. I wish. I try Mages who are more than simple spell slingers, or physical combatants who also use spells have been kind of my thing for pretty much as long as I played RPGs. Arcane Archers are another good archetype, just for other people, I want to be in the melee . And yet, precious few video games offer it as an option to the extent I would like, if at all, so I've had a lot of time to refine what do I actually want, and different flavours for it too. And it's also why I usually gravitate towards games with more open-ended class systems, whether that's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Mass Effect Andromeda, or even something like Souls games. Because they tend to make what I want possible more often than strictly defined systems. Not to say there aren't games with strictly defined classes that gave me what I wanted. Pillars of Eternity has Ciphers who are super cool both thematically and in gameplay, Pathfinder games have Magus the eldritch scion variant is better than the int ones thoFor Dragon Age specifically, Arcane Warrior and Knight Enchanter have been a decent compromise, but they are both hindered by being only specialisations. Arcane Warrior needed to give you more melee options than just auto-attack, but of course it couldn't because it needed all 4 of its specialisation slots to actually enable mage to be in the melee, and Knight Enchanter was stuck with staves and light armour. The latter could've been fine, since there are heavy looking light armours (or making heavier ones with fade touched mats), but the lack of melee weapons is a big one, since in DAI you can't even let yourself use whatever with mods without breaking combat balance in half, since non-mage weapons have 4 times the staff damage, but mages have high weapon damage ratios on abilities to balance it out. (For comparison, more powerful warrior abilities are around 250-300% weapon damage, while several mage abilities are 800%-1200% weapon damage, while lvl 25 greatsword has ~300 damage per hit and staff has ~85) And that's ignoring the fact that them being specialisations means you're stuck with only one sort of flavour for your character, while hybrids could let you have basic hybrid capabilities as well as specialisation to flesh it out. Which is ultimately why I propose either open-ended system where you can mix and match to your heart's content, or hybrid classes so they can be balanced for what they need to do.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Nov 19, 2022 12:26:23 GMT
I started an Adaar playthrough for the first time couple days ago, this also being the first time I'm using Sumalee voice for Inky. So far, a lot of fun! This is going to be a bit of a catch-up post. I'm also using mods (because why not), notably character creation mods and one to enable me to use all specs for my class. So while my character is officialy a Knight Enchanter, I'm also using Veilstrike, Horror, and Walking Bomb from other specs I also got Blade of Tidarion that looks like a physical sword, because the way the handle is sheathed with it normally looks absolutely ludicrous. Day 1 and 2: Mostly ran around Hinterlands and Fallow Mire, recruiting folks, then finished out by doing In Hushed Whispers and recruiting mages as allies. King Alistair was not exactly happy with them. Of yeah, and almost forgot, finished the day with In Your Heart Shall Burn, and after some minor trouble getting to Skyhold thanks to mods damn white screen dedicated Inquisitor's speech to being a mage in charge of it. Day 3, 4 and 5: These were mostly consumed by Crestwood, Western Approach, and then Here Lies the Abyss. For this (and well, most) world state, I have Loghain as a warden because poetic justice. I left him in the Fade, and then kicked Wardens out of Orlais since they are vulnerable and have no commander. Day 6 (yesterday): I killed most of the day running companion errands and then running around Exalted Plains. I saved Bull's Chargers during his mission, then started his romance, which I wasn't exactly planning on, but. I never did it before, and I decided that the dynamic in that romance could fit this Inky pretty well. My original plan was to romance Josie, and I spent like two hours agonising over that choice. Also did Cassandra's, Dorian's, Varric's and Solas' quest, and played a game of Wicked Grace. 'It comes off. I didn't know it came off...' Next on the menu - Emerald Graves and Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts. Some screenshots
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Nov 15, 2022 6:17:05 GMT
I've been making my first ever run through Inquisition as mage Adaar, I've always played as mage Lavellan before. Adaar is fun. Some mods may or may not have been involved in her creation. Blade of Tidarion wielding Knight Enchanter, she fights on the front lines. The go-to response is to laugh at the situation, but deep down, she's a big softie. A massive sword wielding, two meters tall, horned giant softie.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Nov 10, 2022 23:28:41 GMT
If they make all the love interests bi, they can vague post secretively about it however much they want.
Otherwise, I would much prefer full details so I can set my expectations appropriately low for the queer ones.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Nov 10, 2022 20:57:37 GMT
I'm don't think we'll ever get true hybrid classes, but it's a nice idea. Templars are almost a hybrid class since they use lyrium, although all templars throughout the series say it's different than magic. Maybe not. I do really think there is a real untapped potential in there for fun new character archetypes though. Both for gameplay, and for roleplay. There is even a great opportunity to introduce them into the world building now, since we're leaving Southern Thedas, with mages having greater opportunity to pursue their own desires. Introducing a class of mage warriors in Tevinter, who supplement their proper martial abilities with bursts of magic to create a more unpredictable combat style, and seeks to cut off their opponent's options would be cool. Or maybe a some guild of Lords of Fortune who cultivate Arcane Trickster like abilities, weaving magic disguises, creating and countering arcane traps, and using magic to enhance their ability to ambush foes. Or perhaps Dark Knight tomb guards in Nevarra, who curse, weaken and rot would be intruders before approaching to smite whoever remains standing with great blades glowing with ominous runes. I don't know. I'm probably going to be disappointed, and keep dreaming of what could've been if they didn't refuse to branch out from their warrior-rogue-mage holy trinity.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Nov 9, 2022 22:56:34 GMT
I hope there's an Arcane Warrior specialization. It still is, the best spec to represent gish characters. Or else give us hybrid classes and get rid of the bland warrior-rogue-mage system that tries to put everyone in a box, and inevitably messes with how much freedom and customization you can get. I agree with this 100%. DA has felt to me since the beginning like it's missing the hybrid classes, akin to Infiltrator/Vanguard/Sentinel in ME. So I would like to see either more freeform character building, where mages get access to armour, physical weapons and weapon talents, and rogue/warrior get spirit warrior/templar abilities as a pseudo-magical, baseline, non-specialisation options, to keep rough layout of the options the same. Then you can have characters further fleshed out with specialisations. Alternativelly, bring those hybrid classes. If that's the case, Arcane Warrior or Spirit Warrior could be turned from a specialisation to a fully fleshed out hybrid class between Mage and Warrior, having passive and active abilities that incentivise to combine magic and physical combat. While Warrior/Rogue could be a proper duelist class, and some sort of magic assassin (Shadow?) for a Rogue/Mage. And then specialisations for the hybrids could have you lean more heavily to one side or the other, while pure class specs could be traditional ones like Reaver, Assassin, Blood Mage etc.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Nov 9, 2022 15:39:12 GMT
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Oct 3, 2022 15:39:00 GMT
I love how some games turn extremely gay the moment you make a female character. Anyway, I finished my good ending run of Code Vein, now I need to decide if I want to make a bad ending run. I managed to finish the DLCs (well, as far as I cared to, I did the challenges I needed for the gifts I wanted), some of those gifts are really fun on a dark mage. There is something hilarious about popping the spinny laser from Frozen Empress and watch it just obliterate everything around you, which is especially great during invasions. Mido is still as much a pain as I remember, and when fighting Skull King, I had him on the last sliver of health and I got one shot (Io died earlier in the fight and I'm not running revive), it was hilarious. If there is one thing I really appreciate about Code Vein when compared to either Dark Souls, or a lot of other soulslikes, it's the magic. No need to carry a catalyst, 8 slots to just instantly pop the gift, and the sheer variety of them is just great. Not to mention the ichor that you regain on attacks, parries and backstabs instead of needing to split your health flask, encourages aggression and you have as much of an ability to cast as long as you can survive and attack. I also appreciate that with the companions it's a lot less lonely experience, but I said one thing.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Oct 2, 2022 17:50:31 GMT
After coming back from a work trip, I've been continuing my playthrough of Code Vein. Since my last post, I've managed to get as far as finishing Crown of Sand and defeating Successor of the Throat. I've also discovered that dark gifts are a lot of fun, especially once you're not stuck with just the basic 'roar' ones. The blades, ember reversal, draconic stake, and the DLC gifts like hoarfrost stream and meteor crush, there is such wonderful variety of dark gifts that I was missing out on before with my light mage builds. At some point, I will have to do a bad ending playthrough to get the Queen's Ribcage, Breath, Claw and Throat as well for additional dark gifts. Maybe first NG+.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Sept 28, 2022 14:00:37 GMT
I got properly started with Code Vein last night, made it through the starting bit, met Louis breezed through most of Old City ruins, only to be punished by the Butterfly of Delirium for my hubris and died 1 hit from victory. Dried trenches and the swamp bit were once again a breeze. I went to bed just as I was ready to leave for the cathedral. Build is not solidifying yet, but I'm still early of course. I need some more cool dark gifts. You may call me Val the Impaler
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Sept 27, 2022 7:03:43 GMT
Didn't do a whole lot in Code Vein last night (I needed my beauty sleep), but I did hexedit the game .exe to get rid of the damn pillarboxing so I can properly play on my monitor.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Sept 26, 2022 11:10:25 GMT
I saw a bunch of gameplay mods that seemed interesting, so I started a playthrough of that. We'll see how far I get before something else grabs my attention. As usual for me in every game that allows it, I'm planning on running hybrid stabby/casty build, mostly focusing on mental stats and enhancing my melee with gifts (and weapons that scale with mental stats). Not sure if I will stick with dark build yet, or fall back on ol' reliable, the light barrage spells.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Sept 7, 2022 23:29:39 GMT
But I keep hearing about CP2077 and now I want to go back to that instead. I blame certain people here for that Come join me! Restarting over and over again because you can't decide what V/build/lifepath to play. That's what I've doing my last ~40 hours with the game. I keep finding new things in every PT. For example, yesterday I realized that Corpo read the screamsheet (newspapers), but Street Kid do not. I am tempted too with patch 1.6 being out, lol. Though I have the opposite problem, I always end up playing Street Kid fem!V with blades, hacks, and stealth, and an arm launcher Then I inevitably get bored a bit after the Heist. Last run I used mod to romance Panam (cute romance, but the actual 'romance scene' is super awkward) so I got further than usual, but after that my run kind of petered out.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Sept 6, 2022 11:30:46 GMT
Steel Rising This action RPG launches in two days. For some reason, the one thing I have fixed in my mind about this game is that when I first saw a trailer for it, I went "Oh wait, that's Urianger's VA there" Other than that, Spiders games tend to be deeply AA, ambitious but janky. So hopefully it's good.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Sept 4, 2022 0:51:22 GMT
On FFXIV streak - Outside of the normal busywork like running my daily roulettes, most of my day was spent on cleaning up my inventory, and finding a few gear pieces that I wanted to use in new outfits. So that's what I did, alongside taking pictures in between. Ended up redoing my Warrior glam... Paladin glam because I found the chestpiece from Ivalice raids... And I redid one of my casual gear sets I wear around safe areas. Help, I have like 20 of them, I'm running out of slots for saved gear sets. Between those and having a saved set for all classes except blue mage, that's not a real class I'm at 46/47 aaaaaaaa Also I tried to see if I can make something approximating a selfie which mostly worked! Time of the day and my reshade preset resulted in some janky shadows though.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Sept 2, 2022 23:58:59 GMT
FFXIV I managed to finish off the last few tasks around my island sanctuary, meaning I got access to flight, and therefore, quite a view! Also I bought a new chair for my apartment entirely just to take a single picture
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Aug 31, 2022 21:08:00 GMT
I sat in some chairs in Final Fantasy XIV. One of my favourite things to do in any game is to take pictures, and I have uniquely good tools for in FFXIV, so I like to take advantage of it. Oh, yeah, bonus pic, looking at sunsets is great too.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Aug 8, 2022 7:15:31 GMT
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
|
Post by Vall on Jul 12, 2022 20:45:35 GMT
New BG3 patch, new character. This time, a high strength valour bard. Wiiiith some armour that's not ordinarily available in the Early Access. ignore shadowheart's hair, I know it's weird, patch 8 broke the mod and I'm willing to deal with it
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on May 28, 2022 19:38:59 GMT
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on May 4, 2022 17:50:47 GMT
They buffed Dark Knight with 6.1. It kind of entirely shattered my plans to continue playing Reaper. Dark Knight is kind of my class and I didn't play it just because they were neglected in Endwalker. So, more shenanigans in FFXIV from me, but now in Dark Knight flavour.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Apr 11, 2022 10:22:09 GMT
Ready for the newfound adventure
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
|
Post by Vall on Apr 1, 2022 18:03:33 GMT
If I remember later, I will edit this with mostly light sided Sith Warrior who gay romanced Lana and caught up to beginning of Legacy of the Sith Well, I remembered...three days later. Making a new post instead. Also I need a photo mode in SWToR. FFXIV's /gpose and variety of photo modes in other games spoiled me.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
|
Post by Vall on Mar 29, 2022 8:38:28 GMT
Got crawing for some Star Wars, so I ended up playing SWToR. With the 7.0 changes to classes, decided to finally finish a run through the trooper storyline (I never did because I hated vanguard vfx and heavy weapons are not my thing). Ran around burning everything with a pyro trooper. A nice side benefit? All those cutscenes that materialise non-existent pistol to your hip actually use your equipped pistol when using powertech. Also I've used using chest piece that I got from Jorgan's equipment box Probably won't carry on past the class story since I feel like the expansions after RotHC fit force users the best. If I remember later, I will edit this with mostly light sided Sith Warrior who gay romanced Lana and caught up to beginning of Legacy of the Sith.
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inherit
1663
0
2,777
Vall
1,413
Sept 23, 2016 22:09:07 GMT
September 2016
vall
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by Vall on Feb 15, 2022 8:17:00 GMT
A full on CC that allows you to fully customize your character (like Cyberpunk's CC). This post confuses me because Cyberpunk CC is worse than the trilogy on costumisation front? It does have higher quality models for obvious reasons, but it doesn't allow for positioning any facial features, colour sets are somehow even more limited than ME games... The only thing it really has on ME CC is the very minor body customisation, two parts of which don't even matter because of underwear for one, and all clothes overriding it for the other. So what you're left with is...body tattoos and nails. Which are good features mind you, but Cyberpunk is a bad example of better character customisation.
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