What Are you Playing 7: Deadly Sims

[WritersBlock]

Well, the consuming shadow does give you the tools to finish the game the first run technically. You may need a little luck and/or planning to get the full banishment ritual, or at least enough of it to guess what it is. The star bonuses (extra car speed, more max hp and sanity, extra bullet capacity, higher item find rate, and so on) are fun little assists that help you along. So it is a little more accessible than some roguelike's/roguelite's.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

On the subject of losing because I don’t know how to win, I decided to finally play Don’t Starve, which has been sitting in my Steam library literally for years untouched prior to this.

Died twice so far. First time was the very first night because I was trying to keep the things that go bump in the night at bay with a combination of torches and setting fire to every twig and tree around me (spoiler alert: they don’t last long enough for that to be viable - though I am pleased the game made that an option!).

Second time I got ripped to bits by Hell Hounds, and oddly respawned at a dark shrine I’d mucked around with earlier. Got back to my gear and killed the Hell Hounds at great physical cost. I’m about two weeks in at this point.

[Taevyr]

Honestly, Roguelikes tend to also have a noob tax in learning to game the systems and when to move to the next area. It's just that you can probably transfer most of it to other Roguelikes.

Honestly, the idea of doing continual runs where you slowly build up resources could be a decent structure outside of the randomised layout genre. The first thing that springs to mind is filling in a map and unlocking shortcuts for later runs (while resetting enemies, items, and bosses), but I'm sure people who spend their time designing games can come up with good 'set map, multiple runs' gameplay loops.


Anyway, I'm back to Shadowrun: Hong Kong again, and I really do think I prefer it to Dragonfall. I went ork again, because they're my favourite metatype, and made a decker because I'm not taking Is0bel along on every mission for the second playthrough in a row. The fact I'm capped at INT 8 rather than 9 shouldn't be too much of a deal, it'll encourage me to dedicate some Karma to meatspace combat.

Although as an ork I'm of course speccing into Strength/Body over Quickness, particularly as I began with a point in Close Combat. Specialising in cyber weapons instead of thwacking sticks or unarmed, because of course the first implant I get is the Molly Millions hand razors. Dermal armour for survivability is probably next on the list, although I'll also need wired Reflexes and cybereyed to go the full Molly. Do cybereyed even increase melee accuracy?

Cyberware+decks+programs means this is going to be one expensive build nuyen-wise. If I can afford it the last purchase will be hydraulic jack legs for the movement boost.

I've done a playthrough of both Dragonfall and HK as an Orc Decker/Pistoleer with heavy augments: probably still one of my favourite characters, partially because it's so against type.

Not to mention that the sibling relation with Duncan in HK felt quite natural with that build/race, particularly with the story heavily steering towards you having been the "brains" between you two as children.

[Anonymouswizard]

I've done a playthrough of both Dragonfall and HK as an Orc Decker/Pistoleer with heavy augments: probably still one of my favourite characters, partially because it's so against type.

Not to mention that the sibling relation with Duncan in HK felt quite natural with that build/race, particularly with the story heavily steering towards you having been the "brains" between you two as children.

I get the feeling that the intended character archetypes are either a decker or mage, because Is0bel is bad at her job and both lend themselves to the Academic etiquette. Plus being a mage or shaman encourages you to speak to the one shopkeeper who's relevant to the main story. Duncan also isn't stupid, he's a competent police officer* and literate (which is more normal in the 2050s than the 2070s, but Duncan probably learnt in his teens). The key difference between teenage Duncan and the teenage PC was that the PC was calm and Duncan was impulsive and violent, which is a dynamic you could continue even with 1 Intelligence.

I also think it's more than reasonable for the PC's stay in corporate prison to have broken them to the point that they're no longer the 'brains'. You can declare that your motivation for being a Shadowrunner is that it legitimises you hurting people, which is exactly the kind of thing Duncan used to look for.

* He's no detective, but he seems to be the Lone Star equivalent of a SWAT team member and is much better at his job than the officers in DMS. Plus take him to Whampoa and he'll actually pick up on important details at the crime scene.

[Mx.Silver]

Finished The Excavation of Hob's Barrow and, yes, it's definitely a horror game. Possibly the darkest game overall that Wadjet Eye have published, honestly, although it does slow-roll this more than Strangeland. If you're familiar with modern (psuedo) 'folk horror' as a genre the story won't hold any massive surprises, but it's effectively told and works pretty well, with some good atmospheric work.
There is a kind of interesting minor element of branching narrative to it which, while it doesn't particularly alter the story's direction, does seem to have an effect on how you have to approach some of the game's puzzles. Since, depending on what you did in the early game, you may end-up with different options to approach problems in the later, although I'd have to replay it to confirm how much of an effect that can have. Some of my md-game involved a bit of running around the place, but it's entirely possible that would have changed if I'd done a couple of things differently earlier-on.
The game does have a kind of 'in-game hint book' funtion for the actual excavation puzzles once you get to those, if you feel you need that (a number of them also feature the Greek alphabet and knowledge of Latin, which would also make things a bit to look-up online if you're stuck without having to seek out a dedicated guide - which is kind of an interesting approach to the 'ways to make a game accessible to people who aren't good at puzzles' question).

Pretty good experience overal, I'd say. Not that that's unsual for Wadjet Eye's catalogue at this point, mind you. A couple of the facial animations in the cutscene sections do seem a little off, and while the voice cast do a solid job throughout a couple of the re-used line reads can undercut the mood of some sections a little bit, but neither of those are exactly damning criticisms.

[WritersBlock]

Up to chapter 3 in the recently released Trails From Zero (first of the Legend of Heroes/Trails Crossbell duology games.) Runs extremely well on max settings due to Durante's outstanding optimization work. (I remember the first 2 trails in the sky games having the occasional fps drops even on high powered gaming pc's) It is always nice when a 40 dollar game actually feels like a 40 dollar game as well.

[Taevyr]

Duncan also isn't stupid, he's a competent police officer* and literate (which is more normal in the 2050s than the 2070s, but Duncan probably learnt in his teens). The key difference between teenage Duncan and the teenage PC was that the PC was calm and Duncan was impulsive and violent, which is a dynamic you could continue even with 1 Intelligence.

I also think it's more than reasonable for the PC's stay in corporate prison to have broken them to the point that they're no longer the 'brains'. You can declare that your motivation for being a Shadowrunner is that it legitimises you hurting people, which is exactly the kind of thing Duncan used to look for.

* He's no detective, but he seems to be the Lone Star equivalent of a SWAT team member and is much better at his job than the officers in DMS. Plus take him to Whampoa and he'll actually pick up on important details at the crime scene.

I certainly wouldn't call him dumb, considering his apparent capability at both his professions, just pointing out that it kind of fits the given story for the MC to have a notably high INT/have applied themselves towards more academic pursuits before disappearing into a black site. Another clear sign of Duncan's competence is that if

Spoiler: Shadowrun: hong kong + shadows DLC epilogue

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1) he survives the main story and DLC
2) you rescue Qiu in the final run
3) you don't reinstate your SINs
He essentially disowns you as a brother, leaves with Qiu, and ends up succesfully working with her as a sort of off-the-books corporate officer: essentially Hong Kong Lone Star with the serial number filed off.

I really liked the dynamic you could have with him if your MC truly loved him like a brother, but also felt too burned by the system to return to it, especially after seeing the hardware and augments running can get you. Really felt like they both gradually realized their perspectives would end up irreconcilable, but didn't want to acknowledge it until someone's hand got forced.

[Anonymouswizard]

Honestly Duncan is possibly the best character in the game, and considering he's going up against two very amoral but understandable party members that's saying something. It really helps that you don't have to have the PC continue a close relationship with him, you can have them be distant. I love to have him and the PC be like brother and sister, but I'm glad that it's not the only option (even as the game defines quite a bit of the PC's personality).

Also like Glory before him he's LGBT. That's massive bonus points in my book.

Duncan's biggest issue is that he doesn't quite get what he needs. He thinks he needs rules and structures to bind him, but he really just needs something to devote his energy too. It's telling that

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if you do side with Qiu he doesn't return to Lone Star. He picks a new goal, dedicates himself to it, and arguably achieves more than the PC does in Seattle. He becomes the brains, you become the brawn.

But yes, I also like having the PC be the smart one. It helps that the Academic etiquette is just so useful throughout the game.

[Wookieetank]

On the subject of losing because I don’t know how to win, I decided to finally play Don’t Starve, which has been sitting in my Steam library literally for years untouched prior to this.

Died twice so far. First time was the very first night because I was trying to keep the things that go bump in the night at bay with a combination of torches and setting fire to every twig and tree around me (spoiler alert: they don’t last long enough for that to be viable - though I am pleased the game made that an option!).

Second time I got ripped to bits by Hell Hounds, and oddly respawned at a dark shrine I’d mucked around with earlier. Got back to my gear and killed the Hell Hounds at great physical cost. I’m about two weeks in at this point.

For being called Don't Starve, I've died to everything else far more than starvation at this point. Cold and critters are fighting for top spot on that. Highly recommend playing with all the different characters at least once, adds to the atmosphere of the game rather well. Really should get back to this game at some point and see if I can ever survive a full winter.

If you have any friends to play it with, Don't Starve Together is greatly entertaining at the disasters you can bring upon your group, generally by accident.

[Cespenar]

Up to chapter 3 in the recently released Trails From Zero (first of the Legend of Heroes/Trails Crossbell duology games.) Runs extremely well on max settings due to Durante's outstanding optimization work. (I remember the first 2 trails in the sky games having the occasional fps drops even on high powered gaming pc's) It is always nice when a 40 dollar game actually feels like a 40 dollar game as well.

Sigh. Add another game to the ol' list. Not complaining though, since it's arguably from one of the best jrpg franchises aside maybe Persona.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

For being called Don't Starve, I've died to everything else far more than starvation at this point. Cold and critters are fighting for top spot on that. Highly recommend playing with all the different characters at least once, adds to the atmosphere of the game rather well. Really should get back to this game at some point and see if I can ever survive a full winter.

If you have any friends to play it with, Don't Starve Together is greatly entertaining at the disasters you can bring upon your group, generally by accident.

I have to agree; out of about ten runs so far I only had one run where it was a contributing factor, and even then it wasn’t what killed me it just lowered my health enough that it was easy for the monsters to finish me off.

Sadly I am friendless and alone so multiplayer anything is beyond me ATM, but I will keep it in mind!

[Wookieetank]

I have to agree; out of about ten runs so far I only had one run where it was a contributing factor, and even then it wasn’t what killed me it just lowered my health enough that it was easy for the monsters to finish me off.

Just because you Can poke something with a spear, doesn't mean you Should. Still working on this one myself, that and kiting enemies better. Game also likes to lean on Things Man Was Not Meant to Know, while interesting, exploring/checking out everything, is not always a good idea. Still working on that one too. Really this game just kinda punches me in my general gaming tendencies.

[Resileaf]

Finished Jade Empire. Was fun. Interesting twist (that I wish I could say I was either surprised by or saw it coming, but I had come across it at some point, probably on TVtropes). Buggy at times though, the camera doesn't always work (gets stuck looking at the ground and I can't see where I'm going at all). Seems like I missed something with Kang though, didn't get all the minigames. Probably had to complete every combination before finishing the Lotus Assassin base.

Worst part of the game remains the dumb made-up language, which I suppose is a pretty minor complaint all things considered. I can see why it has a good following.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Just because you Can poke something with a spear, doesn't mean you Should. Still working on this one myself, that and kiting enemies better. Game also likes to lean on Things Man Was Not Meant to Know, while interesting, exploring/checking out everything, is not always a good idea. Still working on that one too. Really this game just kinda punches me in my general gaming tendencies.

In my defense I didn’t even know Treeguards existed until after I hit it with my axe and it turned me into a pine needle pincushion.

I have to agree; out of about ten runs so far I only had one run where it was a contributing factor, and even then it wasn’t what killed me it just lowered my health enough that it was easy for the monsters to finish me off.

Update: two runs now. This time the insanity was the actual primary contributor, but the starvation was the cause of death. On the flip side - new record! I made it to Day 33.

[factotum]

Finished Jade Empire. Was fun. Interesting twist (that I wish I could say I was either surprised by or saw it coming, but I had come across it at some point, probably on TVtropes).

That's a bit of a shame, because the twist is one of the best-executed I've seen in a video game story. The best part about it is the performance:

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A typical Hollywood outcome to a twist like this would be the guy who betrays you suddenly completely changes character after he does so, going from affable friendly dude to "NOW YOU DIEEE!" without dropping a beat. Master Li never does that--he is the same character after the betrayal as he was before, and it's great to look back at all the stuff he did and what he said during the game and realise that everything still makes sense. There's a moment after you've escaped from the cave he puts you in near the start of the game where he seems to be almost panicking, and at the time you have no idea why--it's only later that you realise he knew the soldiers were on their way to wipe out the village, and his carefully-crafted plan collapses like a deck of cards if you're there when they arrive and get killed!

[Zevox]

"Eh, it's been a few months, maybe I'll dip back into HearthStone and play a few rounds of Battlegrounds. Just going to need to grab the perks since it's been so long, but I've got plenty of gold saved up... Wait, where's the perks? Oh, I think they've been lumped in with this new Battle Pass thing. Why can't I buy it with gold? What's this new icon on it as the alternative to paying money? Runestones? How do you get those? *Googles it* So, only by paying money..."

*Uninstalls game forever*

Okay, I haven't quite taken that last step yet, but I have never been so close to doing so. I've already permanently ditched everything else about Hearthstone, and am not inclined to play even Battlegrounds on any regular basis anymore, and now they've pulled this crap? It's like they're actively trying to drive away anyone who plays at all casually.

[Anonymouswizard]

That's a bit of a shame, because the twist is one of the best-executed I've seen in a video game story. The best part about it is the performance:

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A typical Hollywood outcome to a twist like this would be the guy who betrays you suddenly completely changes character after he does so, going from affable friendly dude to "NOW YOU DIEEE!" without dropping a beat. Master Li never does that--he is the same character after the betrayal as he was before, and it's great to look back at all the stuff he did and what he said during the game and realise that everything still makes sense. There's a moment after you've escaped from the cave he puts you in near the start of the game where he seems to be almost panicking, and at the time you have no idea why--it's only later that you realise he knew the soldiers were on their way to wipe out the village, and his carefully-crafted plan collapses like a deck of cards if you're there when they arrive and get killed!

Yeah, the plot of Jade Empire is awesome. Makes me wish there was a third quest hub, but awesome.

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On the other hand it makes me even more annoyed at how badly the morality system was handled. The two main antagonists both reflect the dark sides of each extreme, which sets up the PC to redeem the philosophy of your choice. But instead you can't play a character who actually follows Closed Fist, and Open Palm is portrayed as the good, helpful, cosmically right option.

The Closed Fist option should have generally been one of three things: punishing them for requesting help, giving them a tool to use, or staying out of it entirely. The 'evil' option can still be there, but it should give no morality points.

[GloatingSwine]

Yeah, the plot of Jade Empire is awesome. Makes me wish there was a third quest hub, but awesome.

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On the other hand it makes me even more annoyed at how badly the morality system was handled. The two main antagonists both reflect the dark sides of each extreme, which sets up the PC to redeem the philosophy of your choice. But instead you can't play a character who actually follows Closed Fist, and Open Palm is portrayed as the good, helpful, cosmically right option.

The Closed Fist option should have generally been one of three things: punishing them for requesting help, giving them a tool to use, or staying out of it entirely. The 'evil' option can still be there, but it should give no morality points.

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Yeah, there was like one or two genuine closed fist options, closed fist should be about pushing people to make their own solution or their own destruction if they're not strong enough. But this is 2000s era Bioware morality so it's actually just "be a git".

[Resileaf]

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Yeah, there was like one or two genuine closed fist options, closed fist should be about pushing people to make their own solution or their own destruction if they're not strong enough. But this is 2000s era Bioware morality so it's actually just "be a git".

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Yeah, I didn't mention it, but it is pretty aggravating that all but a few closed fist decisions are the equivalent of "I am now going to eat this kitten to prove how ruthless I am". Feels like half the conversation choices were "How dare a peasant talk to me?!"

[Anonymouswizard]

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Yeah, there was like one or two genuine closed fist options, closed fist should be about pushing people to make their own solution or their own destruction if they're not strong enough. But this is 2000s era Bioware morality so it's actually just "be a git".

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Yeah, I didn't mention it, but it is pretty aggravating that all but a few closed fist decisions are the equivalent of "I am now going to eat this kitten to prove how ruthless I am". Feels like half the conversation choices were "How dare a peasant talk to me?!"

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I get why they did it like they did, it would be hard to implement without missing out on sidequests. But it's really disappointing, especially as there are some situations where a CF might just shut up, stand back, and watch it play out.

The childhood promise quest comes to mind. It's entirely reasonable for a CF character to just get the two of them alone in a room and wait. This is their conflict, and so they should decide it.

But yeah, the medicine and pirate workshop choices stand out, although the latter is marred by the fact that the awesome option to give her the knife rewards less CF points and the Iron Palm piece. I'd have also loved the option to have Dawn Star fight Gao the Lesser, ideally after you've broken his shin (to make the fight fair).

[Resileaf]

Oh, I just remembered that there is one thing that I think is really annoying, and it's that shapeshifting makes a huge blinding flash of light that makes it impossible to see the screen for a solid five seconds, during which the enemies can whale on you without problem because it's impossible to see what they're doing.

[avensis]

I play Return to Monkey Island, The game is a real pleasure I was afraid like many people about the graphics, But it's a total success.

[Wookieetank]

In my defense I didn’t even know Treeguards existed until after I hit it with my axe and it turned me into a pine needle pincushion.



Update: two runs now. This time the insanity was the actual primary contributor, but the starvation was the cause of death. On the flip side - new record! I made it to Day 33.

Nice. Once you can get drying racks and either Rabbits or Frogs, food pretty much becomes a non-issue and Sanity is much more of a threat. Hey look there's a weird shadow thing over... OHMYGODWHYISITEATINGMYFACE!?!?! Campfire keep away is fun though.

Treeguards are obnoxious, particularly when you get more than one following you. Mistakes may have been made (several really).

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Nice. Once you can get drying racks and either Rabbits or Frogs, food pretty much becomes a non-issue and Sanity is much more of a threat. Hey look there's a weird shadow thing over... OHMYGODWHYISITEATINGMYFACE!?!?! Campfire keep away is fun though.

The worst thing for me that run was the low sanity made the little rabbits stop giving me food. I tried to get by stealing eggs from some penguins that set up shop nearby but those things are fast.

Treeguards are obnoxious, particularly when you get more than one following you. Mistakes may have been made (several really).

They’re really durable too. I got killed by another one tonight, after I set the thing on fire TWICE, plus several whacks with an axe.

[Wookieetank]

The worst thing for me that run was the low sanity made the little rabbits stop giving me food. I tried to get by stealing eggs from some penguins that set up shop nearby but those things are fast.

They’re really durable too. I got killed by another one tonight, after I set the thing on fire TWICE, plus several whacks with an axe.

I've had more than one forest burn down as collateral damage from dealing with Treebeards. Its all fun and games till the burning tree monster follows you to your base. Totally worth it though for the show. Had a good supply of charcoal too, not much else, but definitely set on the charcoal.

[Zevox]

With recently re-playing X-Com 2 and the upcoming release of Mario + Rabbids 2 (which I'll be getting, but not playing immediately, because it's coming out too close to Bayonetta 3), I decided I felt like re-playing Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. And wow, first thing that hits me: I remember this game being better than it had any right to be, but I'd somehow forgotten that part of the reason for that is the music being done by Grant Kirkhope, the composer of Banjo-Kazooie's music. But damn, it's obvious fast, and it really contributes to the fun, cartoony feel of the game. Love that stuff - and it makes it all the nicer to hear him mix in elements of Mario 64 music when you're at Peach's Castle.

It also just feels good that while the game was obviously heavily inspired by/borrowing from X-Com, it changes enough to have a completely different feel from it. The dash attack and team jump mechanics, the pipe mechanics, the overall massively different way movement is handled, the special effects weapons can apply on crits, it makes for a much more aggressive style to the game, for lack of a better way to explain it. Blowing up enemy cover can sometimes be possible, but only with repeated hits, so whereas in X-Com doing that is basically the default effective strategy, in this game using the extra mobility afforded to you to move aggressively to flank enemies and get extra hits on them with dash attack/stomp is more the way to go. You really have to appreciate that they go the extra mile with this instead of just cloning the obvious source of the basic mechanics (though they do give Mario and Luigi overwatch as their first special move, so they definitely copied some things).

This time around I'm going to try to use different characters. I know by the end of the last run I was basically always using Luigi and Rabbid Luigi as my partners, because Luigi is the sniper and Rabbid Luigi is just busted strong later in the game due to his Vampiric Dash (he actually soloed the final boss for me after his teammates got KOed early in the fight, as I recall...), and I used Rabbid Peach heavily throughout the game before settling on those two since she's the initial healer. So I'll be looking at Rabbid Mario, Peach, and two Yoshis a lot more this time I think. Unless they just all turn out to suck, somehow. I'll be especially avoiding Rabbid Luigi though.

[zlefin]

"Eh, it's been a few months, maybe I'll dip back into HearthStone and play a few rounds of Battlegrounds. Just going to need to grab the perks since it's been so long, but I've got plenty of gold saved up... Wait, where's the perks? Oh, I think they've been lumped in with this new Battle Pass thing. Why can't I buy it with gold? What's this new icon on it as the alternative to paying money? Runestones? How do you get those? *Googles it* So, only by paying money..."

*Uninstalls game forever*

Okay, I haven't quite taken that last step yet, but I have never been so close to doing so. I've already permanently ditched everything else about Hearthstone, and am not inclined to play even Battlegrounds on any regular basis anymore, and now they've pulled this crap? It's like they're actively trying to drive away anyone who plays at all casually.

I find even without any perks battlegrounds is quite fine and playable. If you haven't already; I'd recommend at least playing it some to try out the quest system. While at first I'd feared there were serious imbalances in the current iteration; as I've played more I've found it's reasonably well balanced with a number of paths to choose from depending on what comes up.

[Cespenar]

So, I wrapped up the "new" Monkey Island, and I get where some of the irritations were coming from (non-art-wise). It's a pretty "eff you" kinda ending, but considering how that point was coming along from 20 odd years ago (not to mention being reminded like a billion times inside the game as well), I can't get that angry about it.

Also, the credits-message-thingy also explains the devs' feelings pretty well, so I'm willing to "give" this small point to them, since they are the ones who made up the franchise in the first place.

[Zevox]

I find even without any perks battlegrounds is quite fine and playable. If you haven't already; I'd recommend at least playing it some to try out the quest system. While at first I'd feared there were serious imbalances in the current iteration; as I've played more I've found it's reasonably well balanced with a number of paths to choose from depending on what comes up.

I've played a few games without. The problem is really the loss of two heroes of the four from your choices. Makes it a lot more likely that you might just get two you just don't like playing - in which case, I get to just concede and then que up for a different match, crossing my fingers for a hero I can actually enjoy this time. Which has already happened a couple of times. Ever so much fun, that.

I really just have no patience for that kind of F2P BS anymore. Locking simple gameplay elements like that in an effort at squeezing a few more bucks out of players is just not something I want to put up with, ever. It actively makes the game less fun, and why should I play a game that is designed to make itself less fun if you don't spend X amount of money with X frequency when plenty of games that don't do that exist?

As far as the quest system, from what I saw of it, eh. It feels like it probably has some imbalanced stuff - I know one of the quests, where the stats of any minion you sell get added to a random minion in the tavern, felt pretty weak to me, since it's just very difficult to have those stats land on a minion that works with a specific build you're aiming for; while another that I got, which let me discover a minion of my tavern tier every time I played 4 Beasts or Quillboars, seemed way more potent, and did lead to me winning with a Gul'drin Beasts build. But at least nothing seemed as obviously busted as the early versions of Buddies and Nagas from earlier this year I guess. I suppose that's kind of a thing to: after those, I've kind of given up balance in Battlegrounds as a lost cause. Which is definitely part of why I took a long break from it between the middle of the year and now, and another part of why I'm considering just dropping it forever at this point. Me losing confidence in their ability to balance the main game mode was one part of what pushed me away from that, after all, so if Battlegrounds is following suit there...

[zlefin]

I can see that. I'm more of a play everything type, so I'm ok with just 2.

I get hating that. I also get blizz wanting to try to make some money off the battlegrounds mode, which otherwise doesn't monetize so well.

The quests having different activation costs helps balance them alot. The selling minions transfers their stats ones is actually quite decent I've found. It may not be a high roll late gamer, but it's a solid and helpful boost. If you leave the minion you truly want for last, you can transfer all the stats onto the minion of your choice by buying all the others. It also works well if you're using demons to eat the tavern minions. That does take a lot of gold and buying/selling, but it works out ok. Another notable feature is that it's very accommodating of shifting strategies. Normally shifting doesn't work well because hte loss of accumulated stats really hurts; but the stat transfer lets you keep all the accumulations/buffs you've spent even if you shift to a completely different build. It tends to favor an ever-shifting menagerie build really.