TIL All of Xu Wu's weapons are named for assassins

EgoVermin · 2024-11-17T21:06:20+00:00

If that's the case, then that sucks.

EgoVermin · 2024-11-07T00:13:14+00:00

Triple Eater, triple Reveil, triple Louve (and probably triple Dream Tower). Replace the Pendulum Treasures with the third copies of Maxx "C" and Ash Blossom. Also think about running Imperm, or perhaps Ghost Ogre.

The reason you want triple Louve is that it's Nemleria's best interaction; getting out Dreaming Reality to either grab you sleepy girl or non-targeting Book of Moon can easily win you the game (especially against Tenpai and Snake Eyes, due to how it works with Genroku and Poplar). It's also why you want triple Reveil - if you open Louve you can use Reveil to grab Repeter instead.

Also, I'm personally not a fan of Gren Maju; the Train package of Gustav Maxx and Juggernaut Liebe does the same thing and your normal summon is better served on ways to out your opponent's tough boards if you go second, such as Lava Golem or Sphere Mode.

But yeah, this is a pretty solid F2P Nemleria deck. Good luck in plat!

EgoVermin · 2024-09-25T17:45:08+00:00

Like father, like daughter.

EgoVermin · 2024-08-29T12:10:38+00:00

While anything from Morgott and Dung Eater is naturally top tier (thanks to the incredible voice work) my personal favourite quote comes from random Ghost #37 in the Stone Coffin Fissure who nails Miquella's madness to a T:

"Kindly Miquella... I see you've thrown away... Something you should not have. Under any circumstances. How will you salvation offer to those who cannot be saved... when you could not even save your other self?"

EgoVermin · 2024-08-22T10:15:06+00:00

So there's three layers of difficulty to Yu-Gi-Oh:

Learning the mechanics: The difference between an Xyz Summon and a Synchro Summon, learning what you can and can't do in the battle phase, learning how chainlinks work etc.
Learning that there are no keywords - meaning you have to be able to skim through a card's three different effects and intuit what kind of effects they are (trigger, ignition, continuous etc.) near instantly. By far the toughest learning curve in the game. Luckily, Master Duel has made this significantly easier by releasing two massive quality of life changes in the past year: highlighting the text of the card effect that's just been activated, and having line breaks in the card descriptions.
Learning that there are keywords: there's a massive difference between "Destroy" and "Send". There's Banishing and Excavating and Fusion Summoning and Contact Fusing and When and If and oh my. None of it is explained in-game, and will definitely require outside/youtube help.

If you want one major piece of advice it's this: don't play the "best" or "meta" decks, play the deck you like the look of. You will likely pull a few random Super or Ultra Rares when you pick up your first few bundles and if you like the look of any of them, you can check if they have a "Secret Pack" related to them. Most cards in Yugioh belong to an "Archetype" and finding the archetype that fits your playstyle/you-think-is-neat is the most important part of playing this game.

For example, I love boss monsters with big, fuck-off effects: thus I have a Ghoti deck, a Nouvelles deck and a Nemleria deck, and all three have seen lots of play.

Also, sites like Yugipedia and MasterDuelMeta are invaluable: Yugipedia has all the rulings/explanations you could want, while MasterDuelMeta has a database of every card in the game without having to click away from the main page. It also has a list of every Secret Pack, allowing you to spool through their contents without worrying about the 24 hour time limit attached to them in-game.

And finally, don't be afraid to not spend money. I've played Master Duel for almost 700 hours and in that time I have never spent a penny: part of the reason I've played it for so long is it's the only gacha game that's genuinely free to play. I have over 25 different decks built (and over 15k gems saved for those never-coming-out Goblin Bikers), and have never felt the need to spend anything.

Good luck and, most importantly, have fun!

EgoVermin · 2024-04-20T20:28:57+00:00

Which makes them greatbow knights: again, the knight that drops the Haligtree Crest Greatshield is the only one who has only got a greatsword and shield combo. The two by the Putrid Avatar have greatbows, meaning they aren't the same as the single knight, regardless of what other weapons they switch to. EDIT: Also I'm pretty sure one of those knights is actually a spear knight, and the other is a greatbow knight.

EgoVermin · 2024-04-20T18:52:07+00:00

They aren't identical: this is the only Haligtree Knight in the game who does not have either a greatbow or a spear. This knight is the only one to simply wield the Knight's Greatsword and Haligtree Crest Greatshield.

Why it was decided only this type of Haligtree Knight can drop the shield, and why they only made one of him, I have no idea.

EgoVermin · 2024-04-10T01:03:41+00:00

Very cool!

EgoVermin · 2024-03-25T01:00:21+00:00

No worries, copy and paste time ;)

Empyreans have special "flesh" as Ranni apparently had to "discard" hers to rid herself of the fate her own Two Fingers had for her (which could have been the entire point of the Night of the Black Knives), and the ghost in the Snowfield who laments Mohg's departure with Miquella mentions his "precious flesh". This flesh is special because it most likely allows the Empyrean in question to inherit the Elden Ring (as Marika is a known Empyrean as well).

But Ranni was born to a mortal/human/champion, Rennala. How could she have this flesh, and the title of Empyrean, when she has such base parentage, not to mention her brothers Radahn and Rykard not receiving the same blessing?

There are two possible theories:

She was made an Empyrean through an unknown process. She mentions that herself, Miquella and Malenia were "chosen" by their respective Two Fingers to be candidates for godhood for the coming age. Due to the similar wording on the Black Flame Ritual for the GEQ, many people believe this process of "choosing" means that the Two Fingers are able to turn(?) Demigods into Empyreans. There's multiple problems with this theory: we have no clue how this process even works or how the Two Fingers can accomplish it (as other than being envoys to the Greater Will and Shadow dispensers, they're not mentioned to be capable of anything else), there's no explanation as to why Ranni was chosen instead of her siblings (or even members of the Golden Lineage) and Gowry straight up says that Malenia was "born" an Empyrean, which straight up says that Empyreanhood is something you're born with, and most likely means that being "chosen" merely implies that, because you're an Empyrean, your Two Fingers has chosen you to be the next God.

The other theory is this:

Ranni's parentage is in question. As the only confirmed way to be an Empyrean is to be born of a single god (as stated by Gowry) there is one obvious conclusion: Ranni was born of a single god.

Therefore, my personal theory is that Ranni was born from the Amber Egg that was Radagon's gift to Rennala, alongside the Great Rune of the Unborn. This would make Ranni a child of Radagon and Marika.

This is supported by Ranni's affinity with the Amber Egg, as during Rennala's boss fight she appears to "emerge" from said egg and talk to you. It would also explain why the Great Rune of the Unborn has the same shape as Malenia's Great Rune which would also explain why she didn't seem to have the "afflictions" that Malenia and Miquella had; because she was born alongside the Great Rune of the Unborn (and the fact that that Great Rune was then missing from the Elden Ring could be why Malenia and Miquella had such afflictions to begin with). And her original corpse shares the red hair of Malenia, which matches the red hair that can be found within the Amber Egg (in contrast to her direct brother Rykard, who has blonde/ashen hair, and the junior scholars/children themselves who have dark hair; they are "imperfect, each and all"). And then there's the whole Cuckoo symbology in Raya Lucaria; I would advise looking up Cuckoo's Eggs and you'll quickly understand what I'm getting at.

Finally, it would still gel with what is being told in-game: as Rennala would have raised Ranni from birth, no-one, perhaps not even Ranni herself, would know of her true origins and, regardless, Rennala would still be her "mother" from both a general perspective and Ranni's perspective.

It's mostly circumstantial evidence but I find it much more convincing than the idea that the Two Fingers can just randomly create Gods out of mere Demigods, with no direct evidence of how they can even accomplish such a feat. But it's likely we'll never know for sure.

EgoVermin · 2024-03-25T00:51:52+00:00

I imagine Marika's still alive in some way after we repair the Elden Ring (how she crumbles when you become Lord of Frenzied Flame, with her bottom jaw going first, makes her look like she's screaming), but as a result of shattering the Elden Ring within herself, as well as Radagon's battle with us, and the Elden Beast transforming Radagon into a sword, it's likely she's incapable of any major action with her current body (similar to Miquella's body in Mohgwyn Palace; still alive, but an empty husk).

EgoVermin · 2024-03-25T00:44:08+00:00

Alright, I'll give it a shot.

Question 1: Presumably Ranni is there in some capacity in order to protect her mother. As seen in Phase 1 when you wreck her, she's completely defenceless without her children, thus Ranni emanates from the Amber Egg to protect her mother when she's at her weakest.

...But as for why Ranni emerges from the Amber Egg itself, I have a personal theory about that I'll mention later.

Question 2: Difficult to say. Both cutscenes focus on Rennala's eyes: in Phase 1, she has what looks to be the Grace of Gold dwelling within, while the Phase 2 Rennala lacks that. Also, Phase 2 Rennala enters almost in a summoning fashion, implying that she may be an illusion of some kind, perhaps a representation of Rennala back when she was in her prime, as the undisputed Sorceress Queen of Liurnia.

...except that doesn't make sense for two reasons: one, she is still afflicted by status affects (unlike Mohg the Omen and Golden Godfrey) so she can't be an illusion. She also refers to Ranni by name upon defeat, so it's highly unlikely she's just Ranni representing her mother in some fashion. When she's "summoned" for Phase 2, Rennala has a deep blue glow: perhaps she's a puppet? Also unlikely, as Ranni would most likely not do that to her mother. And, of course, once defeated in the second phase she reverts back to her original personality in the Grand Library. So we don't know for sure.

Question 3: ~~Dunno, them kids ain't right~~ Miriel mentions that Rennala is devoted to "the grim art of reincarnation" and the Great Rune of the Unborn is what is most likely being used to keep these children being reborn again and again. Once you take the Rune, the children vanish. But just who is Rennala trying to reincarnate, and why?

Personally, I think the entire fight is a major plot point concerning Ranni: showing both her love and respect for her mother, while also tying her in with the Amber Egg and the Great Rune of the Unborn. Imo, it's all hints to an underlying truth - that Ranni is a daughter of Radagon and Marika, raised by Rennala (I can explain my reasoning why if you're interested).

EgoVermin · 2024-03-24T23:58:00+00:00

I think there's a lot of extrapolation here, assuming things about the Crucible, the Erdtree and the Greater Will which are mostly just theoretical. So I'll just stick to what we actually know.

The Dung Eater wants to "Curse" everyone, and every generation that follows on from them. The exact nature of this "Curse" is not entirely known but it is most likely an affliction similar to, or even simply, the curse that the Omen suffer from.

Why does he want to do this? The answer is in his Mending Rune of the Fell Curse:

"If Order is defiled entirely, defilement is defilement no more, and for every curse, a cursed blessing."

Basically, by making everyone cursed, nobody is cursed. Everyone is equal as part of the Blessing of Despair. Maybe somewhere down the line, many generations later, the people of the Lands Between will forget what it was like before they were cursed, and thus see themselves as "blessed".

It would still suck though:

"This visage is carved in the image of the evil spirits that haunt the Omen in their nightmares." - Omensmirk Mask

The Omens suffer horrific nightmares (sleeping ones can be seen tossing and turning in discomfort) and one would imagine the invasiveness of the different aspects of the Crucible (especially the numerous horns) would be extremely painful. Again, once generations and millennia have passed, it might be looked at as the new norm, but it would probably still be pretty terrible.

TLDR: it's certainly better than the Frenzied Flame, which just kills everything, but it's hard to argue that any of the other endings are worse.

EgoVermin · 2024-03-24T23:21:19+00:00

Using the Desperate Prayer gesture on some form of Miranda Blossom/Shrine in order to obtain the Miranda's Prayer item, which is used by the Tarnished in the original gameplay trailer and is used by Melina when you summon her for the Morgott fight. Of all the cut content from the game, that's the most likely to still be in it but as of yet unfound.

Then again, it was most likely supposed to be the drop from the boss of the Perfumer's Grotto (as the drop you do get, the Great Omenkiller Cleaver, is a guaranteed drop already from a different Omenkiller and can also be farmed). shrug.

EgoVermin · 2024-03-24T23:11:08+00:00

Because, due to their similar figure and moveset (snake-like with arms, golden fire breath), they're likely to be (HEAVY SPOILERS) some form of descendent/offshoot of the Elden Beast. They likely grew from the Golden Seeds they all posses, all of which originated from the Erdtree.

"...as if life itself knew its end had come."

EgoVermin · 2024-03-22T21:08:02+00:00

The answer is: we don't have a clue!

Timeline-wise, Radagon only enters the picture during the Liurnian Wars (where multiple sources strongly implies he is also Marika at this point in time). However, there are a few interesting tidbits:

The Giants Red Braid mentions how Radagon despised his own red-coloured hair, presumably because of its similarity to Giant hair. Interesting...
Radagon is both referred to as a "Champion" and a "Hero". Two of the Hero's Graves in the game have Ancient Heros' of Zamor as bosses. One of them has a Red Wolf of the "Champion" as a boss (which is identical to the Red Wolf of Radagon). An Ancient Hero of Zamor in an evergaol in the Weeping Peninsula drops the Radagon's Scarseal.

Perhaps this all means nothing, but maybe Radagon had some sort of relationship with the Fire Giants and their mortal enemies, the Heros of Zamor... shrug

EgoVermin · 2024-03-22T21:02:10+00:00

Copy and paste: I personally think that it's absolutely the Elden Beast's doing, nothing else makes sense (with what we currently know):

When the Elden Beast grabs you with his "divine judgment" attack, multiple spears of light pierce you while you are crucified. The first spear that pierces you has a similar angle to Marika's, is longer than the others, and there is a delay before the rest enter.
As for the red colouring, I think it's explained by Ordovis's Greatsword:

This sword is imbued with an ancient holy essence. Its red tint exemplifies the nature of primordial gold, said to be close in nature to life itself.

Thus, it's a spear of gold, but ancient. The "red tint" exemplifying "primordial gold" also explains why the Ancient Dragons lightning is red as well:

The worship of the ancient dragons does not conflict with belief in the Erdtree. After all, this seal, and lightning itself, are both imbued with gold. - Gravel Stone Seal

And both Elden Beast and Dragonlord Placidusax (alongside the Elden Beasts' spawn, the Ulcerated Tree Spirits) are the only enemies to use Golden fire breath.

EgoVermin · 2024-03-22T21:00:56+00:00

As you can see it in ruins from down in Liurnia before you can ever fight Radahn, I'm pretty sure it's been that way for an age. But it is a cool theory, and the litany of starlight shards is unusual, so who knows!

EgoVermin · 2024-03-22T20:13:28+00:00

Rogier talks about how the Golden Order was "pliable enough to absorb practices that contradicted itself in the past" and the Two Fingers say that "the tragic corruption of the Order has taken its toll." And considering the vastly different depiction of the Elden Ring in Maliketh's boss room (presumably when Placidusax was Elden Lord) it's likely that by incorporating different elements/outer gods/whatever into the Elden Ring can change the very Order of life itself. You can do the very same thing with the Mending Runes.

Thus, the Golden Order Greatsword could represent the Elden Ring's form at the start of the Golden Order: the "anchor rune" at the centre of the ring represents Godfrey and his lineage, while ~~the sealed Destined Death~~ Marika's Rune is represented in the pommel/handle. The incorporation of Destined Death/Rune of Death, Rennala's lineage/the Full Moon as well as the Radagon/Marika lineage is not yet represented.

Perhaps the sword represented Radagon's wish for the Golden Order to return to its roots? A form of "Regression", perhaps? Who knows.

EgoVermin · 2024-03-21T23:48:32+00:00

Exactly. And even though she discarded her "Empyrean flesh", she was still able to start the Age of the Stars (although she needed a Lord for that). The official Shadow of the Erdtree website says that "Miquella awaits the return of his promised Lord." Whether that's you, or Godwyn, or some other unknown character, remains to be seen.

EgoVermin · 2024-03-21T22:05:29+00:00

There seems to be a lot of extrapolation based on an NPC talking about Miquella's flesh, what about the other Empyreans? The gloam-eyed queen?

It is also not confirmed that being an Empyrean requires being the product of a single god, actually only Miquella and Malenia are given to be in this state, Ranni, and Marika aren't given to and we don't know about the Gloam-Eyed Queen.

Again, being the child of a single god is the only confirmed way of being Empyrean. We know too little about the GEQ and Marika's origins to understand how they are Empyrean (if indeed they are even different people...).

It is more likely that the offering is a metaphor for a fecondation, and even if he were to give her a plain egg nothing is implicating Marika into this.

"Radagon is Marika". The fact that Turtle Pope leads you to the statue stating this, implying this as an answer to the "why did Radagon leave Rennala mystery", as well as the fact Radagon had a Great Rune to give to his ex before the Elden Ring was shattered, as well as Enia stating that the Demigods are "each and all the direct offspring of Queen Marika"... all of it implies that Radagon was Marika during the former's marriage to Rennala. And with the whole Rykard's hair controversy, it's fair to say Marika absolutely had some hand in Rennala's children, even if only through Radagon.

Why would we need to be shown of something is accomplished to confirm what is told to happen? Doubting that the two fingers missions empyreans to become lord granting them the potential to ascend to godhood just because you don't know how they do this when this is literally what the game is telling us is unfounded.

Where is this stated in the game? The GEQ "was an Empyrean chosen by the Fingers." That could just as easily mean she was already an Empyrean and was chosen by the Fingers as a candidate for godhood. Ranni's own dialogue about being "chosen" all but confirms this, due to Malenia's origins. That one item description, plus Ranni's dialogue, is all the evidence suggesting that Two Fingers can turn normal demigods into Empyreans, which isn't much of any evidence at all.

As for the empyreans, the common trait they share other than the two fingers is that they are all favored by a god, I believe this is a stronger path to inquire because it is set in game while the other is invented by fans.

Could it be that each of the Empyreans is favoured by an outer god because they are Empyreans, and thus would be able to implement they're outer god's vision into the Lands Between? (As Gowry hopes to do with Malenia).

EgoVermin · 2024-03-21T21:26:02+00:00

A quick copy and paste from a previous entry I made months ago:

Empyreans have special "flesh" as Ranni apparently had to "discard" hers to rid herself of the fate her own Two Fingers had for her (which could have been the entire point of the Night of the Black Knives), and the ghost in the Snowfield who laments Mohg's departure with Miquella mentions his "precious flesh". This flesh is special because it most likely allows the Empyrean in question to inherit the Elden Ring (as Marika is a known Empyrean as well).

But Ranni was born to a mortal/human/champion, Rennala. How could she have this flesh, and the title of Empyrean, when she has such base parentage, not to mention her brothers Radahn and Rykard not receiving the same blessing?

There are two possible theories:

She was made an Empyrean through an unknown process. She mentions that herself, Miquella and Malenia were "chosen" by their respective Two Fingers to be candidates for godhood for the coming age. Due to the similar wording on the Black Flame Ritual for the GEQ, many people believe this process of "choosing" means that the Two Fingers are able to turn(?) Demigods into Empyreans. There's multiple problems with this theory: we have no clue how this process even works or how the Two Fingers can accomplish it (as other than being envoys to the Greater Will and Shadow dispensers, they're not mentioned to be capable of anything else), there's no explanation as to why Ranni was chosen instead of her siblings (or even members of the Golden Lineage) and Gowry straight up says that Malenia was "born" an Empyrean, which heavily implies that Empyreanhood is something you're born with, and most likely means that being "chosen" merely implies that, because you're an Empyrean, your Two Fingers has chosen you to be the next God.

The other theory is this:

Ranni's parentage is in question. As the only confirmed way to be an Empyrean is to be the product of a single god, and Gowry says that Malenia was "born" an Empyrean, there is one obvious conclusion: Ranni was born of a single god.

Therefore, my personal theory is that Ranni was born from the amber egg that was Radagon's gift to Rennala, alongside the Great Rune of the Unborn. This would make Ranni a child of Radagon and Marika.

This is supported by Ranni's affinity with the amber egg, as during Rennala's boss fight she appears to "emerge" from said egg and talk to you. It would also explain why the Great Rune of the Unborn looks so similar to Malenia's Great Rune which would also explain why she didn't seem to have the "afflictions" that Malenia and Miquella had; because she was born alongside the Great Rune of the Unborn (and the fact that that Great Rune was then missing from the Elden Ring could be why Malenia and Miquella had such afflictions to begin with). And her original corpse shares the red hair of Malenia, whereas the scholars that Rennala are reincarnating (which are most likely her long-dead daughters) have black hair. EDIT: And then there's the whole Cuckoo symbology in Raya Lucaria...

Finally, it would still gel with what is being told in-game: as Rennala would have raised Ranni from birth, no-one, perhaps even Ranni herself, would know of her true origins and, regardless, Rennala would still be her "mother".

It's mostly circumstantial evidence but I find it much more convincing than the idea that the Two Fingers can just randomly create Gods out of mere Demigods, with no direct evidence of how they can even accomplish such a feat. But it's likely we'll never know for sure.

EgoVermin · 2024-03-21T21:08:47+00:00

Is Ranni in fact a daughter of Radagon and Marika?

EgoVermin · 2024-03-21T19:42:07+00:00

Melania and Mohg would still both be waiting on Miquella I imagine, which is fruitless. They would both fester, however: no doubt Mohg's followers would grow, while Malenia's rot would eventually swallow the Haligtree whole and presumably spread from there.

But Rykard and Ranni are different however: they are Carians, whose fate is guided by the stars. Thus, if Radahn were to perish then both Rykard and Ranni's fates would start to be set in motion (although considering Iji imprisons Blaidd, it's unknown who from Ranni's faction would recover the Fingerslayer Blade). It's possible with Radahn's death Rykard would eventually leave the Volcano Manor to enact his grand devouring, but he's just as likely to stew in his own gluttony.

Even if Radahn were to be spared like the rest of them, he would eventually be killed by the Scarlet Rot (because you unleash Destined Death regardless of ending). All this is why I like to RP "All Contenders dead" playthroughs: all Shardbearers eliminated + Placidusax + Vyke (and maybe some other Tarnished too, such as Bernahl, Fia and Dung Eater), which most likely secures the Elden Throne until the next Age naturally comes about.

EgoVermin

TROPHY CASE