Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, Mk. XLI: No Morals! No Quarter! All Brutal!

[Johnny Blade]

This is the new thread for talking about whatever we feel like, which sometimes happens to be a terrible comic called Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, for which a man going by the name of Mookie is responsible.

Snark Chronology (Snarkhronology)

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Thread I - Oct 31 2006 to Aug 9 2007 - 77 pages, the first half of which actually contained praise yet. Then Snowsong came about...
Thread II - Aug 8 2007 to Jun 10 2008 - the epic one, 301 pages, OVER NINE THOUSAAAND posts. Here the foundations of Domiology - our snarky fanon - were created.
Thread III - 10 Jun 2008 to Aug 12 2008 - 63 pages of snarky goodness, first one to contain the archives in the first post.
Thread IV - Aug 12 2008 to Sept 20 2008 - 50 pages, the one that carried us through the first half of the horrid Vacation Arc and brought the first actual fans into our threads (of course, their resolve starts to falter by now )
Thread V - Sept 20 2008 to Oct 18 2008 - 50 pages, the Vacation Arc continues to our unimaginable horror.
Thread VI - Oct 18 2008 to Nov 11 2008 - 50 pages, the final part of the vacation. So much to be learnt about walls and limbs; knowledge that Mookie, unfortunately, shall never possess.
Thread VII - 10 Nov 2008 to Dec 1 2008 - 50 pages, finally the Plot Creature caught up - but what has Mookie done to Celesto and TIM?
Thread VIII - Dec 1 2008 to Dec 23 2008 - 51 pages, wherein Dex rises from the dead and we are introduced to Sn'gl'euth'u, the cutest extradimensional Lovecraftian being since Hello Cthulhu.
Thread IX - Dec 23 2008 to Feb 20 2009 - 50 pages, which taught us that orcs not only have despicable traditions, they are also completely insane.
Thread X - Feb 20 2009 to Apr 5 2009 - 50 pages, which taught us that orcs are not only completely insane, they are actually crazy enough to make Cthulhu roll Sanity checks!
Thread XI - Apr 5 2009 to May 1 2009 - 51 pages, in which the orcs are at their height of insanity (going one step beyond), Luna is the designated Messiah of Everything and that tusks make you speshul.
Thread XII - May 1 2009 to Jun 6 2009 - 50 pages, where the orcs, after reaching the height of insanity previously, find ways to fly to entirely new planes of mind-crushing madness, sufficient to warp their plain to the size of a backyard and time to freeze, as nothing interesting happens at all.
Thread XIII - Jun 6 2009 to July 9 2009 - 50 pages, where the orcs continue to plumb the bottomless depths of inanity. Oh, and insanity too. Meanwhile, Luna discovers a new Sue power: inflicting the worst monologues ever on hapless readers. Also, Jacob is evil.
Thread XIV - July 9 2009 to Aug 6 2009 - 50 pages, where we are still occupied with Orcs. Orcs. Orcs, everywhere! Oh gods, is this arc not going to end ever?! I repent, Mookie! I repent! Just make it stop! Make it stooooop!
Thread XV - Aug 6 2009 to Sept 7 2009 - 50 pages, with Orcs, who do Orc things and KILL THEM, KILL ALL THE ORCS, EXTERMINATE THEM, SO THIS HORROR CAN END!
Thread XVI - Sept 7 2009 to Sept 26 2009 - 50 pages. Do I have to tell you what it was about at this point anymore? You have three guesses. And the first two don't count.
Thread XVII - Sept 26 2009 to Oct 20 2009 - 51 pages. The Orcs are still insane, and in this thread, they managed to temporarily infect us. Among the results are a debate about relativism and many pictures of various cute, funny, and weird animals. There also was a decapitation. It was metal.
Thread XVIII - Oct 20 2009 to Nov 19 2009 - 50 pages, in which the March Through Maltak continues against logic, reason, good taste and sanity. Also including attempts at a non-lethal battle and awesome plot twists(Dominic fixes everything!)
Thread XIX - Nov 19 2009 to Dec 15 2009 - 50 pages. The Battle At the Bikta Sanctuary is trudging along, with consistency and logic being casualties.
Thread XX - Dec 15 2009 to Jan 14 2010 - 50 pages, where many lessons are learned: Never trust a bard, rain solves everything, and a stunning revelation by a necromancer so important it's the next thread title.
Thread XXI - Jan 14 2010 to Feb 25 2010 - 51 pages. Now that events have been set into motion that may affect the destiny of the entire world, we get to see Nimmel and his crazy college shenanigans!
Thread XXII - Feb 25 2010 to Mar 31 2010 - 51 pages, where Nimmel fully ascends into the First Caste, donning the Mantle of Sue that he might make us all immune to boobs.
Thread XXIII - March 31 2010 to May 9 2010 - 50 pages. After Talking to one tentacled creature about another, Mamma Deegan returns home, and Greg starts a band.
Thread XXIV - May 9, 2010 to June 9, 2010 - 50 pages. Greg's band is so meh it's un-****ing believable.
Thread XXV - June 9, 2010 to July 22, 2010 - 51 pages. The strange ecology of the Wild Edge Territory, and the stranger behavior of the Callanians living there. If there's a keyword, it's "random". Also, inappropriate names for creatures.
Thread XXVI - July 22, 2010 to Sept. 6 2010 - 50 pages. Stunt's stunts in the Wild Edge show a stunting of character and such stunted emotional capacity that he probably suffers from stunt. Also, Celesto meditates naked.
Thread XXVII - Sept. 6, 2010 to Oct. 6, 2010 - 50 pages. The comic goes to hell. Again. Siegfried returns and shouts a lot.
Thread XXVIII - Oct. 6, 2010 to Oct. 27, 2010 - 50 pages. Curly has exploded at the end of the War in Hell just like a soul. Now, on to a trial.
Thread XXVIIIS - Nov. 6, 2010 to Nov. 7, 2010 - 1 page. Wherein a true fan who has made it as far as Storm of Souls, makes a thread.
Thread XXIX - Oct. 27 2010 to Dec. 2, 2010 - 50 pages. The "trial" is just a veiled excuse to have Bulgak grow wings on his head and look into goalposts that show him important events in his past.
Thread XXX - Dec. 2, 2010 to January 1, 2011 - 51 pages. Bulgak goes boom. Filler. Then nothing happens except Curly's marathon readthrough of Maltak.
Thread XXXI - Jan. 1, 2011 to January 21, 2011 - 50 pages. Dominic and Luna finally show up, and then we get an arc about plastic surgery.
Thread XXXII - Jan. 22, 2011 to Feb. 18, 2011 - 50 Pages. Luna is great. So great. Also: Snuggly joins the Loony Toons.
Thread XXXIII - Feb. 19, 2011 to Mar. 24, 2011 - 50 pages. Snuggly is allergic to shellfish. Facebath returns to sing songs about how Luna is so great.
Thread XXXIV - Mar. 24, 2011 to April 19, 2011 - 50 pages. Snuggly kills an all-powerful archmage and no one is too concerned about it. Also, we met King DJ.
Thread XXXV - April 19, 2011 to May 23, 2011 - 50 pages. Dominic must find Celesto for no reason in particular. The Battlecasters are spying on all Second Sight, everywhere.
Thread XXXVI - May 24, 2011 to June 24, 2011 - 50 pages. Dominic visits his old friend Szark. Together, they uncover the dark secret of two teenagers who, brace yourself, are trapped in a vicious cycle of bullying. Holy moly! The world-destroying abomination is assumed to still be relevant, but not even Dominic knows why.
Thread XXXVII - June 24, 2011 to August 7, 2011 - 50 pages. Dominic strips naked and drives a small child insane while Szark prevents anyone from helping the kid.
Thread XXXVIII - August 7, 2011 to September 14, 2011 - 51 pages. Dominic pulls out some old tricks and some new ones, we're all totally confused, and then we're smacked with a one-two punch of Smug and Great.
Thread XXXIX - September 15, 2011 to October 19, 2011 - 50 pages. Luna and Greg go to an art gallery, some stuff with battlecasters happens, somehow we manage to draw this out for fifty pages.
Thread XL - October 19, 2011 to November 23, 2011 - 50 pages. The budding love between Gregory and some battlecaster whose name nobody cares about and the union between a toast and a lizard showed us that love conquers all. A guitar will do just as well, though.

And our sister threads:
Strip Slays, the best thread ever
Strip Slays 2: the best thread strikes back
Strip Slays 3 - Someone Is Going To Slay For This Outrage.
Strip Slays 4: A Slay On Words.
If the madness of this thread does not suffice to bring your SAN rating down, those will. For sure.
[DD Snark]Maltak: The Unsuckening - Art by Domochevsky, Writing by Oracle_Hunter, edited by us. A parody of the longest arc done in the style of Hiimdaisy's comic strips, now with snazzy new (non-sucky) link!
Dominic Deegan - The Second Coming - the now dead Dominic Deegan rewrite, where everyone could contribute! Assuming it was still alive.

For more information, check out the Encyclopedia Dominica, our all-encompassing archive of knowledge! It's a wiki!

If you're wondering why we snark, check out Why We Snark on the wiki!

For further reading, there's The Descent of Man (into Madness and Mookie) by Johnny Blade.

And there is also the Dominic Deegan game: Punchy's Brilliant Adventure: Ley Line Scramble, courtesy of TamerBill!

MORE FUN STUFF:

Snarky Flowcharts (Flowsnarks)

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Turcano's Chart of Arc Hope
Helanna's Chart of Thread Trends

guttering_flame's Cycle of Life and Death (Spoiler: It All Leads to Maltak)

Snark Art (Snart)

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Dominic Deegan's art is garbage. However, some people may at times believe, possible after being exposed to it for way too long a time, that it's not that bad.
Well, here's something to guide the lost souls back to the light.

Domo's Beef:

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Domo's Reenvisioning (of the Melna vs Taran fight scene and Luna's entrance at the Bikta camp):

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Silverblood

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Pay close attention, you may notice a little surprise.

Garland

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BEHOLD! MUSTACHE!


SNARKSERVICE

Maltak: The Unsuckening

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8 out of Unknown parts done so far.

Domo's commentary on werewolf society:

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TamerBill's animations:

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Big Stuff
Dominic Deegan: The Animated Series
Battle For Barthis 2
Magical Nerd Lyrical Nimmeloha

Little Stuff
Power-Walking With Nimmel Fenix
Dominic Dansen: Oracle for Hire
Young Men's Chibi Association
Hell Is Other Panels

Joro's good old days:

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In an alternate universe, Dominic Deegan: Surly Jerk With a Fish on His Head is a well regarded webcomic.

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Crud, I think I drew his nose off center.

Jacob used to be somewhat cool. What happened? Curse you, Maltak.

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Glass Mouse:

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Averagejoe's One Panel (Sn)Arcs

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[Trazoi]

Woo, new thread!

So Tessa was in that Confession thing? My confession: I've never read that part. Either of them. When I did my archive trawl they looked so boring. And why in Luana's name are there two versions of the same thing?!

Wait, that sounds eerily similar to a recent arc...

[Toast1862]

Woo, new thread!

So Tessa was in that Confession thing? My confession: I've never read that part. Either of them. When I did my archive trawl they looked so boring. And why in Luana's name are there two versions of the same thing?!

Wait, that sounds eerily similar to a recent arc...

Wasn't that the one where another artist did it? I kind of remember reading it, but it was so boring that I don't remember what happened. So yes, you were probably right. If I'm thinking of the right thing, though, there are two different artists who did it *and that's why there were two versions.

Edit: *

[Trazoi]

I didn't and still don't get why two artists did the same thing. Or why they're in the main archive back to back. Did Mookie write the story? Is it technically "canon" (for how much that means these days).

When I was archive trawling I thought the first one was a fanfic used as filler, so I skimmed it for a couple of pages and then skipped the rest. I was confused as all heck when the thing rebooted again at the end. It was like Groundhog day, except with annoyingly Bryonic pictures of annoying Szark.

[Oracle_Hunter]

The Confession(s) is actually terrifying.

Look at Szark on this first page of Confession I. Look at it!

Confession II was better except for the dead fish eyes on all the people.

Also, Mookie finally credited the folks who drew it for them. Glad to see he's fixing some of his bad habits.

Re: Red Shirt Soup Wench
We made that term. Well, specifically, Kukn did. I actually thought I had but I guess I just used it a lot?

I hadn't even realized Tessa had been around before her Soup Wenching days, nor that she was even an actual Luanian Priestess. I'm really curious why Mookie decided to bring her back, or even point out who she is...

[Glass Mouse]

I didn't and still don't get why two artists did the same thing. Or why they're in the main archive back to back. Did Mookie write the story? Is it technically "canon" (for how much that means these days).

Yes, and yes.

The story was Szark confessing that he caused a ruthless business woman's murder. She'd wronged some man, and when he sought revenge, Szark could have stopped him, but didn't because he enjoyed watching them die. Instead, he just murdered the man afterwards and was proclaimed a hero for killing the murderer.

It became a plot point in Battle of Barthis where Szark's father had apparantly taken the job of cleaning the woman's legal mess because his son was involved in the murder. Those papers held some proof against Mr. EvilBusinessMan.
And somehow a talking muffin was involved.

OhgodwhydoIrememberthis

[Trazoi]

Oh.

And of course Szark is allowed to keep roaming the streets and anyone who objects to him teaching their children has to be a nasty homophobe because obviously that's the only reason they could object to such a fine upstanding gentleman.

I hadn't even realized Tessa had been around before her Soup Wenching days, nor that she was even an actual Luanian Priestess. I'm really curious why Mookie decided to bring her back, or even point out who she is...

This is the Jayden arc. Mookie's been reading Shadows of Siegfried to prepare.

What's that you say? King Dave who? I don't remember anything about a plot.

[Traab]

Well he was under the influence of a demonic wound that has since been healed and gotten rid of, (I think) He then went off to that monastery for some psychological (spiritual) treatment, and apparently he became gay instead of bisexual. I look at his behavior in errosus as something along the lines of a man who committed crimes because of a serious psychological problem, who went and got treatment for it and is now better.

Of course, in his case he didnt actually break any laws. Amelia did, but szark was signing legal contracts to take part in legal duels to the death. He wasnt aware of the fact that amelia was basically mind controlling everyone involved. Hell, aside from being gay, szark is the ideal of manly man behavior in callan. He kills people, sleeps around, and practices a manly skill. (Sword fighting is so macho) If it wasnt for his man loving homosexual ways, they would likely have parades in his honor and elect him king next.

[Trazoi]

Everyone pleads "Demons made me do it" in Callan. It's why their prisons are empty. That and Dominic keeps blowing them up.

It's more that Szark keeps getting more hilarious in that Mookie doesn't realise all the terrible implications he creates in every single storyline he appears in. He really hasn't thought about it at all.

Did Szark do anything at all to redeem himself other than go to the cathedral and (maybe?) donate the money back? In a regular storyline a heroic character with Szark's past would dedicate their lives to undoing their crimes. But this is DD where Dominic can absolve you of all your sins.

[Mr. McGician]

This is the Jayden arc. Mookie's been reading Shadows of Siegfried to prepare.

What's that you say? King Dave who? I don't remember anything about a plot.

It's almost the end of the year, and this arc is basically over. The very idea that Mookie would end the year in the middle of an arc is simply outrageous. And the idea that he could fit a storyline into a mere month is equally outrageous; all storylines obviously need to have horrible pacing and last at least three months. Therefore, we need a short and pointless filler arc to end the year, allowing Mookie to start the next plot-stalling arc at the beginning of the new year.

[Traab]

Everyone pleads "Demons made me do it" in Callan. It's why their prisons are empty. That and Dominic keeps blowing them up.

It's more that Szark keeps getting more hilarious in that Mookie doesn't realise all the terrible implications he creates in every single storyline he appears in. He really hasn't thought about it at all.

Did Szark do anything at all to redeem himself other than go to the cathedral and (maybe?) donate the money back? In a regular storyline a heroic character with Szark's past would dedicate their lives to undoing their crimes. But this is DD where Dominic can absolve you of all your sins.

He helped save barthis by kicking scarlettis ass and showed he had his impulse to kill under control, even under HEAVY provocation. Now he lives what he likely hoped would be, a quiet life teaching children how to use swords. A pretty good choice since sword fighting is his best skill. Too bad the plot had to roll over all that and ruin it.

[TheLaughingMan]

The Confession(s) is actually terrifying.

Look at Szark on this first page of Confession I. Look at it!

Confession II was better except for the dead fish eyes on all the people.

Confessions III, however, was quite the runaway success thanks to the timely arrival of Weird Al.

[Rappy]

Ahh, dig that fresh, fail-scented new thread smell.

Alright, catching up on the last thread since the update...

Combined with the moustache it's DD in the 70s.

If I want 1970s-themed kitchen sink fantasy, I will stick with Damnation Decade, thank you very much. [/Fauxsnobbery]

Wait... Tessa? This Tessa?

Behold! It is the return of the original Red Shirt Soup Wench! All hail!

This is unreal. It is Tessa. The name and character design are the same. Mookie remembers her. I don't know if he kept track of the character or had her in his notes* or went on an archive crawl or what, but the fact remains that Mookie is able to bring to mind an unimportant background character who had like two lines four years ago.

But he still can't keep track of his plot from one week to the next!

*Like he keeps notes on this comic...

It is impressive, isn't it? In a sad sort of way.

[Trazoi]

He helped save barthis by kicking scarlettis ass and showed he had his impulse to kill under control, even under HEAVY provocation.

Unfortunately the comic seems to act like one piddly little demonstration of self-control is enough.

Szark never acts like he shows any remorse for everything he did in his former life. His arcs seem to have more mopey about how no-one will accept him and how he'll never win Dominic's heart rather than all the atrocities he did. Heck, there's a point where he's joking about how he raped Bumper. That wouldn't be terrible per se if Szark was meant to be an unlikeable monster, but that's hardly the case at all.

The other big reason Szark wanting the quiet life is a massive piece of worldbuilding fail stemming from Mookie not putting any thought into the consequences of his characters actions, especially anything that doesn't directly involve a Deegan. Remember how Greg recently stove in the head of Celesto because the mean chaos mage once hurt his brother? Imagine how many people are rightfully pissed off with Szark. Szark is a duellist in a kingdom where death fights are legal, who made his name by killing scores of rich powerful men in rigged fights. It sounds like the entire ruling elite of Callan must have a relative killed by him at some point. You think they're going to accept "a demon made me do it" as an excuse? Why isn't Szark dead yet?

Edit: Argh I'm ranting on Szark again, c'mon comic why won't you upd... hey you did!
Sneaky Gate
Future Link

Oh great, it's a self-parody arc. Or is it? I... I don't know if that's a good or bad thing anymore.

[M84]

So Jayden hasn't spoken a word in months in-universe and out. That already makes her more tolerable than most of the other characters. Shame it's still based on her relationship issues. Seriously, she needs to have character outside of her connections to Siggy and Milov.

[colonelslime]

So is this like THE Church of Luana? How is it Jayden is even here, in the same building as Mervin and Stiles?

Also, I'm torn between my dislike of Mookie finishing a strip about a character's psychological damage with a gag, and my total apathy towards Jayden's fate and character.

[Mr. McGician]

Jayden isn't actually being silent. You can clearly see she's speaking dot-speak, the same language thatMiranda's bird-spider friend speaks. Dot-speak is a very efficient language, at least orthographically. Jayden is actually spewing out the walls of text that are typical of characters in this comic, but her speech can be simply written as three dots.

[Trazoi]

So is this like THE Church of Luana? How is it Jayden is even here, in the same building as Mervin and Stiles?

It's Aberhest Cathedral, or however you spell it. Where all the Third Castes go to be redeemed according to Dominus' will.

Also, I'm torn between my dislike of Mookie finishing a strip about a character's psychological damage with a gag, and my total apathy towards Jayden's fate and character.

My favourite part is how Mookie thinks lampshading all the plot holes in the first three panels are going to distract us. Sorry Mookie, I'm not going to ignore that none of this makes sense and how the protagonists are all relaxed even though they know they've annoyed the uber-wizard-seer that can teleport and knows where they are.

[Helanna]

Jayden isn't actually being silent. You can clearly see she's speaking dot-speak, the same language thatMiranda's bird-spider friend speaks. Dot-speak is a very efficient language, at least orthographically. Jayden is actually spewing out the walls of text that are typical of characters in this comic, but her speech can be simply written as three dots.

Yeah, I'm really not sure why Mookie thought he needed to symbolize silence. I mean, that's kinda the default. Why would you draw a speech bubble from someone who's being completely silent?!

Also, in the last panel, we get to see how mustache + cheekmouth = awfulness. Errgg.

[random11]

Wouldn't it be funny is a priest will just come in now and scream at Luna for trying to break Jayden's vow of silence?

[Trazoi]

Does Dominikudigan's plot make more sense?

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I don't know, but I like Marvin (that's his Dominikudigan name.)

[Zaq]

I'm wondering just who emailed Mookie and reminded him that Team Deegan was trying to meet with Celesto in order to get past the wards, because there's no way in hell that he remembered that on his own. No way in hell.

Also, there's a gag here about how Jayden never had a voice to start with, but I'm feeling lazy and a little tired, so someone else can make it.

[random11]

I'm wondering just who emailed Mookie and reminded him that Team Deegan was trying to meet with Celesto in order to get past the wards, because there's no way in hell that he remembered that on his own. No way in hell.

Does it matter?
Mentioning plot holes doesn't magically fix them, that requires an actual PLOT.

[T-O-E]

Maybe this will teach Mookie to actually convey emotion without having his characters talk about it? And to use the art part of his comic to enhance his storytelling?

Pretty unlikely.

Maybe we'll have talking head bubbles filled with ellipses. Hey, at least the dialogue'll improve.

[Glass Mouse]

So is this like THE Church of Luana? How is it Jayden is even here, in the same building as Mervin and Stiles?

Well, to be fair, her previous home was blown up. Plus, I can't imagine she'd be useful to send anywhere else, what with her not talking and stuff.

Does Dominikudigan's plot make more sense?

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Is... Luna trying to hook up Jayden and Celesto?

[Johnny Blade]

Jayden cheats on Milov with Siegfried.

Jayden never talks about it until it's revealed by Siggy from Hell.

The rest of Jayden's and Milov's interactions in Shadows of Siegfried mainly consist of awkward silence (well, and that Milov killed her but wait it's an illusion so no big deal) as they both struggle to find the right words to say after this but fail.

The lesson Jayden takes from this: Never say a word ever again.


THE BEST CHARACTER.






Also, Luna. I swear no other character jumps from one emotion to another quite as happily and erratically as her. I seriously sometimes can't believe she's not supposed to be insane.

Especially since I, uh, assume Luna started the conversation, probably. Meaning she must have just ****ing dumped everything that happened in the last three arcs on Jayden jumping from one of those weird faces she makes to another every two sentences in the process, probably doing sound effects too, and only after all that stopped to ask how life's been treating her dear childhood friend after she went through a traumatic break-up and got kicked out of the Winter Archipelago, where I'm pretty sure she lived and worked permanently, by her ex.


THE BESTEST CHARACTER.




Baldur's Gate stuff:

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Killing Kangaxx with the Mace of Disruption came up...you can do that? I really don't know, the game is funny when it comes to documenting what a weapon can hit sometimes and I always assumed it's a +2 weapon (and that the instant kill effect only triggers on potentially damaging - even if it's 0 damage - hits).
I thought it came down to traps, Ring of the Ram, Melf's Minute Meteors, Flame Tongue, that vanilla +4 staff, and now that I think of it there's the Cloak of Stars as well I guess?
Truth be told I usually don't even get the mace upgraded since I give the illithium to the artist. I almost always choose XP over items, no matter how good the trade-off is.
And I try to have Athkatla lich-free - very much not counting Shangalar - before I get involved in the guild war and hit level 7 spells (mage and priest both) for a challenge. The Sword Coast Stratagems mod does make that pretty hard, though.

Also, I must say that dualing Safana to a mage has proven to make things rather interesting for her. Staying at 30 hitpoints with too few spell slots to protect herself well and what she can do running out in no time for pretty much the entirety of the bandit-related part of the game, with arrows flying everywhere, I think there were few fights that went by without her voicing her concern about being kind of on the brink of death again.

[engineer-errant]

Also, Luna. I swear no other character jumps from one emotion to another quite as happily and erratically as her. I seriously sometimes can't believe she's not supposed to be insane.

Especially since I, uh, assume Luna started the conversation, probably. Meaning she must have just ****ing dumped everything that happened in the last three arcs on Jayden jumping from one of those weird faces she makes to another every two sentences in the process, probably doing sound effects too, and only after all that stopped to ask how life's been treating her dear childhood friend after she went through a traumatic break-up and got kicked out of the Winter Archipelago, where I'm pretty sure she lived and worked permanently, by her ex.


THE BESTEST CHARACTER.

I wish Mookie had this level of awareness. All the stupid plot summary could have been compressed down to one or two strips of Luna rambling at Jayden, with some level of comedy provided via schadenfreude at Jayden's suffering.

[Coidzor]

Is... Luna trying to hook up Jayden and Celesto?

If it's unpleasant and nonsensical, the answer is usually yes.

[M84]

Baldur's Gate stuff:

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Killing Kangaxx with the Mace of Disruption came up...you can do that? I really don't know, the game is funny when it comes to documenting what a weapon can hit sometimes and I always assumed it's a +2 weapon (and that the instant kill effect only triggers on potentially damaging - even if it's 0 damage - hits).
I thought it came down to traps, Ring of the Ram, Melf's Minute Meteors, Flame Tongue, that vanilla +4 staff, and now that I think of it there's the Cloak of Stars as well I guess?
Truth be told I usually don't even get the mace upgraded since I give the illithium to the artist. I almost always choose XP over items, no matter how good the trade-off is.
And I try to have Athkatla lich-free - very much not counting Shangalar - before I get involved in the guild war and hit level 7 spells (mage and priest both) for a challenge. The Sword Coast Stratagems mod does make that pretty hard, though.

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Once you dispel the ever-annoying Protection from Magical Weapons enchantment, Kangaxx is ridiculously easy to kill with the upgraded Mace of Disruption thanks to his terrible Will Save. If you've gone far enough in the plot, the Slayer form can solo him too.

I suddenly realized the Jayden arc is going to be terrible because Luna will definitely play a big role in it, being Jayden's apparent best friend. I'm just glad Greg got over his crush on Jayden meaning he probably won't be in this arc too.

[Coidzor]

I'm just glad Greg got over his crush on Jayden meaning he probably won't be in this arc too.

Nah, Greg's sort of the Popsicle Pete of DD. None of you are safe indeed.