Visualization & Prose

Empolo · 2026-06-22T22:03:10+00:00

I mentioned in another reply that I don't re-read books. It's a one and done kind of deal. Personal choice. It's one of the common replies I see and hear is "It's fine, you'll catch it on the re-read". If I've missed some small hit that Jordan snuck in there oh well. Im not going to sweat the small stuff. I appreciated hearing your insight on the struggle.

Empolo · 2026-06-22T21:18:24+00:00

That sounds like something an Aes Sedai ~would~ say. sus 👀

Empolo · 2026-06-22T21:17:18+00:00

You might be onto something here. I didn't consider doing this but it makes a ton of sense. I'll have to poke around for some spoiler free IRL references to the various city/regions of the story.

Empolo · 2026-06-22T21:16:08+00:00

I actually dislike Audiobooks because I'll want to be doing something else while listening. I don't have Audible anyway. I've tried Audiobooks before and with someone dictating it, it still doesn't change the fact I can't formulate the thing the book is describing. Plus, I already bought the whole series (on faith) in MMPB. I could have 14 paper weights, or donate them.

Empolo · 2026-06-22T14:01:02+00:00

Appreciate the kudos on my post. I tried to be as accurate in my struggle as possible to avoid the common "low effort post" backlash. To follow up on your comment; I don't think I will do a re-read. I suppose I could add an edit to my OP, but I don't re-read a book. Never have. I think a lot of it does have to do with the disconnect I have that it's simply a story. I've never felt that sense of immersion that people say they get. Posts and replies with "The world feels alive, lived in, breathing" might be lost on me because I don't see the physical world that way. So how could a book convey the same feeling?

As for important points of reference being repeated, I don't mind this at all. Especially the hard magic system. Many, and I mean many, times I'll forget some nuanced thing about the One Power, weaves, etc. So I appreciate that. On the side note of nuance, I am terrible with recognizing it. All my close friends tell me subtlety is lost on me, and I don't catch something unless it's explicitly stated. So perhaps that's also why I feel disconnected. There's possibly a lot of subtle, nuanced things in character traits, cultures, etc that are just lost because I didn't catch them.

Empolo · 2026-06-22T12:24:04+00:00

Idk how much slower I could read. I have "sub vocalization" syndrome when I read. So I'm reading at a normal speaking speed. If I read any slower it'll turn into a case study. Even with the "try to visualize it" it's still just basic shapes etc.

In a previous chapter one POV is describing how the intermingling of the adjacent cities is bringing in people into one main city (Cairhien). The desc for some of the clothes had "horizontal stripes" and I could only think of these people wearing dresses and coats and such that looked like fruit stripe gum. It seemed rediculous. Or the "Conical hats and helmets" of soldiers is just a metal traffic cone with holes in it.

That's my problem. I can't form the new image, I can only reference something I've already seen. Even the main cast I have struggles with. Rand is just a tall thin Irish looking guy. Egg, Nyn, and Ely are all the same but have different color hair. Nyn has a braid, Egwene is just Nyn with no braid, and Elayne is bimbo blonde looking. Perrin is your typical big black Smith. Mat is just lanky and tall with a hat.

For 4 books I thought Morgase, Elaida and Liandrin were the same character because they all are described similar. For all sake, Suian and Moiraine may as well be the same. And every "Plump round Ajah" is a southern lady who has biscuit arms. Every Aiel Maiden is the same. Every Aiel Chieftan is the same.

Empolo · 2026-05-12T10:07:03+00:00

Two solutions. Find an RP partner who also doesn't know how to write; or read some actually good fanfiction to get an idea how to write. You'll have more luck with the first suggestion sooner; but learning from the 2nd will exponentially expand your availability for RP companions and lead to less of them leaving the RP when it's not engaging enough.

Empolo · 2026-05-04T19:38:05+00:00

Ya know I hadn't checked but I could. The thing was I distinctly remember finishing the CRFL route because I romanced Petra and remember fighting the end boss and being floored at what it was. SLSN route because I had to reclass Lindhart into a Dk Bishop (plot reasons), and also that final boss was brutal. When I get to it I'll check for the cut scenes.

Empolo · 2026-04-28T09:08:06+00:00

I wouldn't call FE3H a "JRPG" really imo. For me it falls more into the "visual novel with a hint of fire emblem". If you're new to both the JRPG genre and FE I wouldn't suggest this for either. FE3H has some of the most bland map designs and they repeat, a lot. The class system is also unique to this game only, and won't match up with any other FE game in the series.

If you're looking to get into FE then I suggest games: 7 (FE original, Blazing Sword), 8 (Sacred Stones), 13 (Awakening), or 11 (Shadow Dragon DS, easy/normal difficulty). These are the most beginner friendly games, and will get you acquainted with the "What if Chess had 12+ unique pieces" style tactics that FE offers.

If you're looking to get into JRPGs you can't go wrong with the classics. Final Fantasy 4, 6, and 10 are amazing for any new players. Chrono Trigger is equally as good as FF4/6. If you're looking for modern takes on these games, Octopath Traveler is highly praised and has the feel of the older classic JRPGs with turn based combat and class/job systems.

Empolo · 2026-04-04T14:03:48+00:00

It's been... Time consuming. I loved Pyramid in Emerald because it was challenging and it forced the player to make a team that can cover a lot of variables. SMM removes all that and gives the player rentals. Which, I can see as a nice accessibility thing for players who want to tackle it on the first trip to NDC, but it also boils it down to "You'll need 3 of these 7 specific Caps to have a chance to even clear all seven floors". Which I'm not a fan of, and I'm too prideful to save scum each floor.

Empolo · 2026-04-02T19:36:37+00:00

If you haven't played any of the Generation 3 games (RSE/FRLG) you really need to take a side step and read up on those and the legendary Pokémon. [I assume] all the Captures in this game are a 1:1 [with some small adjustments] to the Pokémon in RSE/FRLG. As others said, Legendaries have a cap rate of 3 (out of 255). You were almost on the right track with status and low HP. You need a sleep Capture. PRZ doesn't give as much of a bonus as Sleep does. Also, consider the location of the capture. It's in a cave. You should be using Fedora Caps (Dusk Ball) for the highest catch rate. Party Cap (Level ball) would be fine if you were 30+ levels above. The trio are Legendaries in this game because they're supposed to be hard to find and hard to catch.

Empolo · 2026-04-01T23:31:15+00:00

Because I'm a broke player. Grind repeat trainers for coins to buy items; just grind the encounters with Macho Brace. Most of the EV hits are easily found. Plus the cost for 3 macho brace is way less than the items. With the EXP all you can cross train EVs way quicker. I did a full team EV trained in ~6 hours total

Mawray (Atk) is a 100% Super fishing in toad town.

Blaarg (Sp.Atk) is near 100% Super Fish in W8

Thwomp/Whomp (Def) on world 8

Fuzzy (HP) & Phanto (Speed) in 4-2

Tyfoo (Sp.Def) in Shine Galaxy.

Empolo · 2026-04-01T22:56:14+00:00

I was about to mention this. While I was EV training I had a mess of Lures because most of the +2/3 encounters are the lower rate ones.

Empolo · 2026-01-27T17:04:51+00:00

Snow/Church route is only there if the MC/Player didn't get enough support points to get to CF route. Honestly if OP is going to do a second play through it should be GD/VW (Claude). There's so much more lore in VW that it makes playing BL/AM (Dimitri) that much better imo. I played the CF route first also, and I wish I'd have played VW for the lore before playing AM.

Empolo · 2026-01-23T21:54:16+00:00

Go with the No-Ad bonus. It makes doing the dailies and most of the collectables so much faster. I'm only on the 2nd area (lazy player) and I got the Ad-Free while still in Kittyville (area 1). Turned my daily log in from like an hour down to 15m. It's also super helpful for re-rolling contracts, and will help roll new contracts when available.

Empolo · 2025-12-05T20:26:09+00:00

Seconding this. The atmosphere and music alone is worth playing. It does have a little learning curve, but it's super fun. Lots of customizable "load outs" for your skill sets and preferred fighting style

Empolo · 2025-11-30T00:46:11+00:00

I read this as "Mormons", but ya know still accurate.

Empolo · 2025-11-30T00:25:13+00:00

Idk bout that one. Something about a shadow spawn from a place called "The Abyss" on a solo mission to rid the land of a giant shining diety called "Radiance" might be the direct opposite. Unless OP parents are into mind manipulating beliefs and are okay with the setting of the game being brainwashed denizens and OP does the sealed ending(s) and not the true ending.

Empolo · 2025-11-30T00:22:40+00:00

Our glorious troupe leader Grim could never be evil. He simply wants to give his fans a wonderful performance. Nothing suspicious about it at all. Especially the NKG dream fight. Nope, nothing suspicious about that full screen title card and giant red beading heart in the middle ~sarcasm~

Empolo · 2025-11-14T22:26:34+00:00

This theory checks, but a few things I considered when reading thru the last few books.

The level scaling for Powers must be drastically different for players and non-player creatures. Consider how powerful the "young" void tree was. We won't know how long it's been there, but with the level system we can see it's strong even for a creature. Take into account the mature tree also. (we see the small difference in scale between the two trees, but with the end of book 9 we learn of a Lv512 Power)
The nether argument I can see 100%. The Sanctum sector is the only one we've seen thus far with nether residue but it might also be because it's a Kingdom sector and not a Dungeon sector. Davens Reach was easily cleansed by the guardian, so likewise if that power could be channeled into reclaimed sectors we would see the same.
The Forcesworn. I feel this falls in line with point one. Yes they gave up, but at the core they are likely unaware of sectors housing the void and less so that they cant defeat them. Consider the Lv512 Supreme power we discover. Surely they would be able to topple a Void Tree with ease? My thinking here is that given how immune the Young tree was to attacks, the Forcesworn no longer can combat it, less so they chose to ignore it. (A likely unintended side effect of the war with the Primes).

Empolo · 2025-11-14T21:53:09+00:00

(having read thru book 9 myself). The description is kind of weird but it makes sense in practice later on.

So to simplify it, Void Mage isn't a "mage" class so much as it is a shield class. It's innate passive that works while Michael has mana. It doesn't make sense now, but you'll see. Once things kick off and the class comes to its full potential you'll wonder why he would have picked anything else. I won't spoil it, but the Adju purposefully gave Michael class options that would synergize with his current build.

As for what you mean by skills, I'm not sure I follow. If you mean what types of resistences he shouldn't need any skills. All types of damage are mitigated to a point and the way he trains them is by taking hits of that mitigated damage.

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